I am also a Linux advocate, and have been so for years (decades?). That been said, I imagine that there are still more people using Windows XP than there are people using Linux. Last time I checked (october 2017) it was something like 5% using XP and less than 1% using linux, all distros included. We can safely predict that virus outvreaks will be a problem for linux once it reaches 5% or 10% market share...
Gabe On Mon, May 7, 2018 at 1:51 PM, Shabab Mustafa <shabab.must...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have been a Linux advocate for almost a decade now and from 'my past > experience', I can tell you have opened a topic of a huge discussion about > people should switch to Linux Desktops (which is off-topic here). But I > respectfully disagree with your statement, "anti-virus programs usually do > more harm than good". > > From a conservative viewpoint, some protection is still better to have than > no protection at all. And the example you gave here, an anti-virus > mistakenly classified your domain as a potential threat, makes a weaker > point. By a few mistakes, we cannot cancel out a million of other > successes. A false alarm is yet favourable than no alarm at all. > > --- > Shabab Mustafa > President > Wikimedia Bangladesh > > > > On Mon, May 7, 2018 at 5:56 PM Shlomi Fish <shlo...@shlomifish.org> wrote: > > > On Thu, 3 May 2018 19:27:16 -0500 > > John Bennett <jbenn...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > > > > Hello, > > > > > > Many of you may have been receiving emails in the last 24 hours warning > > you > > > of "Multiple failed attempts to log in" with your account. I wanted to > > let > > > you know that the Wikimedia Foundation's Security team is aware of the > > > situation, and working with others in the organization on steps to > > decrease > > > the success of attacks like these. > > > > > > The exact source is not yet known, but it is not originating from our > > > systems. That means it is an external effort to gain unauthorized > access > > to > > > random accounts. These types of efforts are increasingly common for > > > websites of our reach. A vast majority of these attempts have been > > > unsuccessful, and we are reaching out personally to the small number of > > > accounts which we believe have been compromised. > > > > > > While we are constantly looking at improvements to our security systems > > and > > > processes to offset the impact of malicious efforts such as these, the > > best > > > method of prevention continues to be the steps each of you take to > > > safeguard your accounts. Because of this, we have taken steps in the > past > > > to support things like stronger password requirements,[1] and we > continue > > > to encourage everyone to take some routine steps to maintain a secure > > > computer and account. That includes regularly changing your > passwords,[2] > > > actively running antivirus software on your systems, and keeping your > > > system software up to date. > > > > > > > From my experience, anti-virus programs usually do more harm than good. > For > > example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_AntiVirus recently blocked > > my > > entire shlomifish.org domain because it apparently misclassified an > > executable > > download as problematic (and it was built from source using > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMake and > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppVeyor > > so it is unlikely that that is the case.). MS Windows' poor resistance to > > malware and the fact that Windows Update is so dysfunctional (see > > http://www.shlomifish.org/humour/bits/facts/Windows-Update/ ) are the > > reasons > > why I cannot recommend running it as a desktop, and instead one should > use > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux#Desktop - desktop linux or similar. > > > > A little off topic perhaps, but needs to be said. > > > > > My team will continue to investigate this incident, and report back if > we > > > notice any concerning changes. If you have any questions, please > contact > > > the Support and Safety team (susa{{@}}wikimedia.org). > > > > > > John Bennett > > > Director of Security, Wikimedia Foundation > > > > > > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Password_strength_requirements > > > [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:ChangePassword > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: > > > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: > > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > Shlomi Fish http://www.shlomifish.org/ > > http://www.shlomifish.org/open-source/projects/fortune-mod/ > > > > If a tree falls down in the middle of the forest, and there’s no one > there > > to > > hear it… what colour is the tree? > > — Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge > > > > Please reply to list if it's a mailing list post - http://shlom.in/reply > . > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>