Alexander Hollins wrote:
well, when you consider that there was a virus out there that
redirected your microsoft update to their servers, allowing them to
make you download updates that look like microsoft's.
And theres the current websites that redirect you to what looks like
microsofts site unless you look mildly closely (which many people DONT
do) to download MS spyware sweeper 2008. Hello virii and backdoors.
I do not think it would be difficult to prevent such things. These
sound like one-off attacks, sort of like the 9/11 hijackings. Once
you know this can happen you can easily prevent it from happening
again. On the other hand, more conventional Internet-based attacks on
computers occur all the time, as anyone with a firewall can see. Spam
e-mail based attacks are still common. To prevent these things we
need a new Internet structure, which is way overdue in any case. It
will prevent address spoofing and many other abuses. Other
improvements are on the way. The new IP addresses will have so many
bits, every person and every gadget on earth will have a unique address.
The Internet was not designed with security in mind.
People should not fret about the fact that the Internet is inadequate
to our present needs, or that Microsoft Windows is showing its age,
or that cars are long obsolete. All products and all technology
always grows obsolete. The more successful they are, the faster they
become obsolescent. The number of bugs in a software package
decreases at first and then increases, inexorably, to the point where
the software becomes unusable. (See F. Brooks, p. 121) Brooks
describes software maintenance: "All repairs tend to destroy the
structure, to increase the entropy and disorder of the system. Less
and less effort is spent on fixing original design flaws; more and
more is spent on fixing flaws introduced by earlier fixes. As time
passes, the system becomes less and less well-ordered. Sooner or
later the fixing ceases to gain any ground. Each forward step is
matched by backward one. Although in principle usable forever, the
system has worn out as a base for progress."
- Jed
