I Give Up. Windows Is Proof That People Are Too Stupid To Use Computers.
"The worm is spreading through low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without current security updates...
""Microsoft did a good job of updating people's home computers, but the virus continues to infect business who have ignored the patch update...
""Of course, the real problem is that people haven't patched their software," he added.
It's WINDOWS Malware, NOT Computer Malware
The US and British military are getting clobbered by WINDOWS malware. Not computer malware- WINDOWS malware. Dear journalists, do please take note of this. It is a fact. It is a fact that matters. I know you hate facts and research, so here it is on a platter. You're welcome. Even Wired, which should know better, delivered this piece of prime suckage:"The Defense Department's geeks are spooked by a rapidly spreading worm crawling across their networks. So they've suspended the use of so-called thumb drives, CDs, flash media cards, and all other removable data storage devices from their nets, to try to keep the worm from multiplying any further"
Not once does this article say "Windows" or "Microsoft". We had great fun with the Royal Navy putting Windows on submarines mere weeks ago. But it's not funny anymore:
"The Ministry of Defence confirmed today that it has suffered virus infections which have shut down "a small number" of MoD systems, most notably including admin networks aboard Royal Navy warships."
Of course they downplay it, oh no worries, nothing important, run along now. After all, the nuclear warheads are current with SP4, or something equally idiotic. And once again nobody utters the forbidden word "Windows."
Fighter Planes Grounded By Unimportant, Meaningless Infestation
This one is a real knee-slapper:And once again the problem is minimized: "It affected exchanges of information but no information was lost. It was a security problem we had already simulated." At the least the reporter was bold enough to say "Microsoft" and "Windows." But sadly, once again, the end users were blamed."French fighter planes were unable to take off after military computers were infected by a computer virus...The aircraft were unable to download their flight plans after databases were infected by a Microsoft virus they had already been warned about several months beforehand."
Microsoft Saddles Up the Posse!
I saved the best story for last. I am NOT making this up! Microsoft itself, the richest software company ever, famous for having a cash hoard of tens of billions of dollars, famous for spending billions of dollars developing Windows and yet still can't code its way out of a soggy tissue, is offering a reward:Microsoft Rounds Up Posse to Nab Conficker
"In a worldwide effort to bring down what experts warn may be the worst malware now facing the Internet, big names from the computer industry, academia and law enforcement are teaming up to go after the Conficker worm....Microsoft is coordinating an effort to cut the worm off at its head -- offering a $250,000 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for launching Conficker on the Internet."
You must read this article because it is straight out of Bizarro World News. It goes on to describe this ace worldwide confederacy of pros leaping into action to fight this worm: security vendors, Homeland Security, ICANN, Verisign, and universities. Here's the punchline:
"Conficker uses Windows' AutoRun feature -- the one that automatically opens and plays CD-Roms or movie DVDs when these are loaded into a computer.AutoRun "makes the user experience very nice, but disabling AutoRun is a pain in the neck," Nazario said."
A pain in the neck? Did I read that correctly? A PAIN IN THE NECK??
Wow. I can't decide if I want to yell cuss words, or sit down and weep. I guess that makes Conficker "a bit of a bother." I guess if they actually do track down and punish the author of Conficker, the eleventeen-hundred thousand other Windows worms, Windows Trojan Horses, Windows viruses, and other Windows malware will all vanish.
Nobody Blames Microsoft
How much of a rocket scientist does it take to figure out "Hey, if I don't use this piece of crap operating system anymore, I won't have these problems! Hey, it might even be worth suing the vendor for siccing this incredible piece of dung on the world, costing tens of billions of dollars of damage, and endangering public safety!"But no. After watching this exact same scenario play itself out hundreds of times in the past 13 years, it is impossible to avoid these conclusions:
- The press are morons
- The military are morons
- The software security industry is one giant grub-like parasite with a vested interest in being ineffective
- Microsoft's customers are morons
- Most everyone is corrupt, and for dirt-cheap
The one ray of hope is that maybe, just maybe, the thousands of Windows worms will go to war with each other and kill every Windows machine on earth. Though that would be a short-lived cure, because even after a Windows holocaust the first thing the survivors are going to do is get up, dust themselves off, and see if rebooting will bring their systems back up.
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“Our products just aren’t engineered for security.” –Brian Valentine, Microsoft executive Microsoft was trying to deflect the blame away from its highly insecure software and onto people who wri... Read More
Over the last few weeks, LinuxToday editor-in-chief Carla Schroeder has been understandably critical of old media. In reporting on outbreaks of computer viruses and malware, they’ve consistently failed to call a spade a spade, and explain the ro... Read More
Bang on Carla!
I simply stopped using MS years ago. I feel bad for all those lonely people with infected PCs. Poor devils!
It has been a long time since I have such an article. Very impressive work. I am using Linux (only Linux) from last 2 years. I did not even know the facts you have mentioned. You are pretty intelligent when it comes to software.
why so little comments, the article is fun to read
Has anyone released a worm to close some of Windows' bigger security holes? Obviously patching up a teabag won't make it watertight, but since worms seem to be such a popular download among Windows users, why not provide some to disable autorun, close a few ports, and make all files visible?
Better still, it could submit the user's address to Canonical's 'free CD' request page and then disable all network connections. :p
I will keep using windows forever. I love it.
This may come as a shock to you, but some people actually do like and prefer to use Windows. I have one computer that is running a first-generation copy of Win XP - no service packs, no .NET crap or any of that. Just XP, leaned down as far as possible. And guess what? This computer performs flawlessly day after day and rarely crashes. It just works. Yes, I have tried various Linux distros from Redhat to Mandrake to Ubuntu. Not a bad operating system, but too many different distros and software incompatabilities between them for my taste.
At my last count, there were about 15 major distros of Linux available, and therein lies part of the problem. I can run nearly any program from the Windows 95 days to current software on my main system with little or no trouble at all. In contrast, I found that every Linux version which I tried had some problem or another either with installing and/or running many programs. Hardware incompatibilities were also a big issue in some cases.
I'm not new to the computer world, having started out in the very early 1980s with a Timex Sinclare 1000, and progressing up thru various TRS-80s & Commodore machines until the IBM PC came along. So I've been at this for awhile. I also write software for a living, in C++ and VB6.
To sum up, my personal experience with Linux was that although it is a good operating system and stable, it simply isn't yet well-rounded enough to be a viable alternative to Windows. The fact that Linux is open-source is a big part of whats killing it simply because there are too many fingers in the pie. This almost happend with Windows too when the government nearly forced Microsoft to release the OS source code to the public. Thank God it didn't happen or there would be 15-20 versions of Windows out now with the same problems which Linux has.
So, back to the age-old saying - "To each his own"
And please, stop calling Windows users stupid, etc.
dbh, like so many Windows fanbois you avoid addressing any specific points. Did you read the article, or did you just kneejerk? I suppose you'll follow the party line and blame the users for getting infected. Actually it is their fault-- for using a proven insecure, un-secure-able platform.
When a person insists that using MS' software is merely a preference as valid as any other choice, despite decades of evidence that MS is incapable of writing secure software, is incapable of honesty and fair dealing, is customer-hostile, interferes with standards bodies and governments, and has done more damage to computing and the Internet than ten lifetimes can ever fix, well then yeah, I'd say "stupid" is the appropriate term. What is this, Stockholm syndrome? MS has done you no favors, nor anyone else. They have done incalculable amounts of damage; it is absurd to defend them in any way.
If it weren't for Linux and FOSS the computing marketplace would be in even worse shape than it is now, with no competition whatsoever, stagnation in software development, and I'll wager that Apple would either be history, or out of computers entirely and a producer only of personal consumer electronics like the iPhone and iPod. Your comments about Linux are uninformed and incorrect.
PS-- I know this is un-diplomatic, and probably not good advocacy. After years of the same old song-n-dance and nothing changes, it's hard to be patient.
The nice thing about Windows is that people can use it without needing to be an expert computer user. As a person who has used Linux a number of times, the best distro I've seen for the average computer user is Ubuntu. But, Ubuntu still has a long way to go before being as good as Windows.
For instance, my parents use Ubuntu on their computer because I've told them how secure it is and how they don't need anti virus software. But, they needed to install Flash and I wasn't around... They couldn't do it. Imagine people like that trying to figure out how Synaptic Package Manager works. LOL
Look, Linux is great, but it's not for the average user. It doesn't have the games Windows have. It doesn't have a lot of the other software Windows has...
There are tremendous advantages to Linux. But riddle me this: is not the reason Windows has the most viruses are hacks because Windows has the most users? If Linux was as big a target as Windows, I'm sure there'd be viruses on Linux to.
Or does anyone want to steak their reputation on saying Linux is 100% completely immune to viruses... If you will say that, you're pretty naive...