Re: OT: Update Virus Checker

>I did not take the original poster's suggestion the we all move to Apple
>based purely on this single virus.

I am the original poster and I would like you all to use IE and
Windows, preferably an older, unpatched version of each. Why? Well,
my job is in information security. Every time that someone does
something easy by exploiting a Windows vulnerability, my price tag goes
up.
In all seriousness, as stated elsewhere, all the attacks are geared
toward MS systems as they give the broadest target. That said, good
hackers (and I know quite a few of the white hats) can and will get
through pretty much any networked system. Its like the locks on your
door there to keep the mostly honest folks out.
There are a lot of reasons why these guys hack systems, but the main
reason has changed over the last few years. It used to be for bragging
rights, now its mainly money. If you have a good stable of botted
machines, you can rent them out for Directed Denial of Service (DDoS)
attacks or as spam forwarders. The spam is more often being used in
phishing attacks than anything else.
There have been MAC viruses and worms. There is one school of thought
that the very first computer virus was used against Macs (at UT Austin
if I remember correctly).
The only thing that I can suggest to anyone, no matter what OS, browser
or email client they use is to exercise due diligence. Keep your
antivirus up to date, keep your system patched, run most of your apps
in a user vice manager mode, use a firewall or two, run a spam filter
of some type, have a malware protection system, turn off your internet
connection when not in use and BACK UP YOUR DATA! Learn about your
system and learn how to lock it down. Its fun and can save you a lot
of grief.
Frank Reid

.

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