The price of protection . . . .

[Cowperson]

No, no, not condems . . . . this article deals with the price of protecting your PC from attack and the extremes some are going to.

Criminals hijack consumers' PCs by the thousands every day and use them to do their dirty work. Armies of zombies, for example, are now regularly used to attack Web sites and extort their owners.

Because all computers on the Internet are connected, the Internet is only as safe as its weakest link. And right now, the weak link -- home computers -- is pretty weak.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6560512/

Cowperson

[arsenal]

It is fairly easy to hack a computer (I have not done it). There are alot of holes in the Windows OS (other OS's as well), that can be exploited by an attacker to gain access to your computer. Once they have access, they will be able to do what they wish your PC. I read in the summer about 'bot nets'. Basically what a 'bot net' is, is a bunch of hacked PC's, and have a backdoor installed on them. The hacked PC then connects to an IRC channel, where they are given commands from a person. Its like having your own electronic army.

Once a bot net has been established, basically they can do what ever they want:
ie: Flood a server for extorsion purposes, send out spam, etc. Alot of the time, they can just be used to flood rival groups and such.

[Five-hole]

Or, you could get a Mac and end your problems right there.

Alternately, just not using IE and Outlook would go along way to preventing the spread of these kinds of programs. It's pretty much known now that Microsoft blows at maintaining security, so the less and less Microsoft programs you use in conjunction with the internet (browser, mail, etc.), the safer you are. Mozilla's products are good -- and free.

[arsenal]

Mozilla products are good. I use both Firefox (web browsing) and Thunderbird (email).

The main problem with Windows, is that people run in administrator mode all the time. Hell, I even run in Admin mode, becuase I can't be bothered to switch back and forth. Plus, I know what I am doing. I don't just install anything that looks cool, and I don't run any attachments that I get in my email. Where in Linux a simple su - and you can install anything you want. Windows, you have to log out, then log back in. It isn't very easy. Linux gets hacked all the time, so even that isn't 100% secure. There are numerous articles on removing and detecting rootkits for Linux. The difference is, Linux allows for easy switching between running as user and running as root (admininstator). The command line in Linux is much nicer as well. If Windows had a nice command line interface, that allowed switching between user and root easy, I would definately run in User mode. I am just too lazy to switch back and forth.

I beleive Mac OS X is based on the BSD kernel, which AFAIK the most secure Linux/Unix kernel out there. Are Macs immune from all the spyware as well? I know virus's and worms don't run on Macs.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally posted by arsenal@Nov 26 2004, 08:01 PM
Mozilla products are good. I use both Firefox (web browsing) and Thunderbird (email).

The main problem with Windows, is that people run in administrator mode all the time. Hell, I even run in Admin mode, becuase I can't be bothered to switch back and forth. Plus, I know what I am doing. I don't just install anything that looks cool, and I don't run any attachments that I get in my email. Where in Linux a simple su - and you can install anything you want. Windows, you have to log out, then log back in. It isn't very easy. Linux gets hacked all the time, so even that isn't 100% secure. There are numerous articles on removing and detecting rootkits for Linux. The difference is, Linux allows for easy switching between running as user and running as root (admininstator). The command line in Linux is much nicer as well. If Windows had a nice command line interface, that allowed switching between user and root easy, I would definately run in User mode. I am just too lazy to switch back and forth.

I beleive Mac OS X is based on the BSD kernel, which AFAIK the most secure Linux/Unix kernel out there. Are Macs immune from all the spyware as well? I know virus's and worms don't run on Macs.

In 8 plus years of mac ownership I have never gotten a virus, had spyware, had my system hijacked or even a major crash of any sort. Its kinda nice actually.

[Flame On]

Ever tried glow in the dark condems CP? kidding

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally posted by Flame On@Nov 26 2004, 06:24 PM
Ever tried glow in the dark condems CP? kidding

you have to use those... otherwise you can't see when you're putting them on. You don't want one of those suckers inside out now do we :P

[IggyPiggy]

Something else to think about y'all. Just had to replace my computer, thought a virus fried it. As it turns out it was power fluctuations. Surge protectors only pick up on spikes. AS power lull can be just as deadly so go out and buy yourselves a UPS, otherwise it'll cost ya.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Frank the Tank@Nov 26 2004, 02:17 PM
In 8 plus years of mac ownership I have never gotten a virus, had spyware, had my system hijacked or even a major crash of any sort. Its kinda nice actually.

That's because the unscrupulous don't waste their time developing ways to hack into what amounts to a tiny segment of home computer users.

[Five-hole]

Originally posted by Reaper+Nov 26 2004, 02:50 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Reaper @ Nov 26 2004, 02:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Frank the Tank@Nov 26 2004, 02:17 PM
In 8 plus years of mac ownership I have never gotten a virus, had spyware, had my system hijacked or even a major crash of any sort. Its kinda nice actually.

That's because the unscrupulous don't waste their time developing ways to hack into what amounts to a tiny segment of home computer users. [/b][/quote]
Partially true. Apple also employs a team of "programmers" or whatever whose job it is to find security holes, try and hack the OS, or otherwise break OSX. Essentially Apple pre-emptorily fixes their security problems, as opposed to Microsoft which reacts to them. Which one is working? You decide.