: )
On Jul 7, 2006, at 2:29 AM, Jeff @ SLYN Systems wrote:
> For him to REALLY not be in control, he'd have to sell off a ton of
> Microsoft stock, right? You can probably bet that he wants something
> a certain way, it will happen.
>
> Jeff Slyn, Owner
> SLYN Systems & Peripherals
> (502) 426-5469
> http://www.SLYNsystems.com
> serving Kentuckiana clients 7 days a week since 1985!
>
> -- "R. D. Preston" <preston.r.d at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Will Bill Gates controlling interest be gone from Microsoft before
> Vista
> is actually released, what with his announced step-down and all ??
> Regards,
> Russ Preston
>
> On Jul 6, 2006, at 7:05 PM, Jeff @ SLYN Systems wrote:
>
>> Analyst's Prescription For Security Ills: Get A Mac
>> By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb.com
>> 4:01 PM EDT Wed. Jul. 05, 2006
>>
>> A 29 percent increase in a tally of malicious code motivated a
>> security vendor Wednesday to recommend home computer users head to
>> Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac to avoid attack.
>>
>> In its semi-annual report on the state of the security landscape,
>> U.K.-based Sophos noted that the total number of pieces of malware
>> detected by its anti-virus software jumped to 180,292 by the end of
>> June 2006 from 140,118 the same time last year. The vast bulk of
> them
>> target Windows-based computers. That, and a dramatic increase in the
>> ratio of Trojan horses to other malicious code, gave the company's
>> analysts advisory ammunition.
>>
>> "You have to wonder if you're not knocking your head against a wall"
>> using Windows, said Ron O'Brien, a senior security consultant with
>> Sophos.
>>
>> Macs aren't immune to vulnerabilities, he added, but exploits
>> continue to be rare against Apple's operating system. Even the
>> February disclosure of the first-even "zero-day" flaw in Mac OS X
>> wasn't enough to galvanize hackers.
>>
>> "It's a matter of hackers being behind the curve on the Mac," said
>> O'Brien. "The storm of 'iViruses' targeting Macs never materialized,
>> and for the time being it seems Mac can still safely say it's a safe
>> alternative for computer users."
>>
>> According to Sophos' data, worms and viruses e-mailed in massive
> spam-
>> like attacks are a thing of the past. In the first six months of
>> 2006, only 1 in 91 e-mail messages carried a viral payload; that's
>> substantially down from the 1 in 35 ratio posted in the opening half
>> of 2005.
>>
>> A corresponding jump in Trojan horses has more than made up the
>> difference, however. Trojans now outnumber other types of malware by
>> a 4 to 1 margin, said Sophos' report. In the same period of 2005,
> the
>> ratio was just 2 to 1.
>>
>> Another notable piece of information gleaned by Sophos was a
>> continued fall in the average number of computers targeted by each
>> attack.
>>
>> Taken together, the numbers reinforce security professionals' long-
>> held belief that attackers are dumping large-scale attacks for
>> smaller, targeted assaults that rely on Trojan horses to deploy
> large
>> quantities of information-stealing spyware.
>>
>> "There are different tiers of criminality" that can be assigned to
>> Internet attackers, said O'Brien, and the top group "doesn't want to
>> be known." Instead, these criminals rely on small attacks, pinpricks
>> relative to past worms such as Sober and Netsky, to reap financial
>> windfalls. For the most part, those attacks are launched from
> botnets
>> of compromised computers, often by criminals who have "leased" the
>> machines from the actual hacker.
>>
>> "Month to month, there is a direct relationship between the increase
>> in Trojans and the number of zombie PCs," O'Brien claimed.
>>
>> But although Sophos steered home users toward the safer Mac, it
>> didn't tell everyone to ditch Windows. It took a wait-and-see
>> attitude toward the upcoming Windows Vista, for instance.
>> "Vista will probably force malware writers to re-assess the
>> techniques they are using for both regular malware and rootkits,"
> the
>> report stated.
>>
>> "Vista is going to be more of a hurdle than an actual obstacle" to
>> attackers, O'Brien added. He was certain that dedicated hackers
> would
>> find a way to replicate their current tactics against Vista.
>>
>> The OS, which has been delayed several times -- most recently when
>> Microsoft announced in March that Vista would not appear in volume
>> until January 2007 -- has been touted by its Redmond, Wash.
> developer
>> as the most secure Windows yet.
>>
>> Sophos agreed while it bemoaned the postponement. "The delay is bad
>> news for security-conscious computer users as it incorporates a
>> number of new features which should harden the operating system
>> against attack," said the Sophos report.
>>
>> The Sophos Security Threat Management Report can be downloaded as a
>> PDF file from the company's Web site.
>>
>> Jeff Slyn, Owner
>> SLYN Systems & Peripherals
>> (502) 426-5469
>> http://www.SLYNsystems.com
>> serving Kentuckiana clients 7 days a week since 1985!
| The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will
| be July 25 at Pitt Academy, 6010 Preston Highway.
| The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>.
| List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu>
| List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
