Evening Malcolm, > Is it really "not secure" to have no password entrance to use a computer > that is for personal use ? Possibly not, however, are you in total control of your computer at all times? If "yes" are you 100% sure?
> It is only with the advance of networked systems that password entrance > have become the norm. And what is the biggest network currently around? The Internet. And you are on it. Hopefully not on the computer that has no password and hopefully not on XP or Vista where you have not secured the system by setting a secure password on the admin user. There have been many documented accounts of exactly how long it takes a brand new Windows PC to be "zombied" or worse when connected unprotected (ie in default state) to the Internet. Most magazines I have read which carried out their own "honey pot" trap reported less than 15 minutes. So, your unprotected PC attached to the Internet will (possibly) have it's admin user compromised within 15 minutes of you dialing up. Now think about what could be done with that PC : - a denial of service attack on some company or other? - Mail spam - no doubt there will be porn of some sort! - and so on. > Yet, it is not necessary for a single user home computer - even though I > have configured Win XP on my personal PC with a password entrance. Even > though no one else ever uses it ! Ok, your 'malcolm' user is secure (or is the password weak?) but is the administrator user secure or still defaulting to a non-password to get access? Cheers, Norman. _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
