On Jul 15, 9:56 pm, Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
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> Unpatched Windows PCs own3d in less than four minutes
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | An unpatched PC is likely to last just four minutes on the internet before
> | been attacked and compromised.
> `----
The part I found more interesting was the good advice
Security experts advise using a NAT (network address translation
router) and personal firewall before connecting systems to the net on
anything outside sacrificial systems. This best practice can create
tensions between management, who want new systems up and running as
quickly as possible, and security admins.
Put another way - Put A LINUX box in front of your PC to give it the
protection it can't provide for itself. The article didn't say
whether Vista fared any better or worse, but given the article below,
it sounds like the 4 minute survivor WAS Vista.
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/15/unpatched_pc_survival_drops/
>
> 4 minutes? How does one even connect to get patched up without getting
> compromised first? Maybe that's why *most* Windows PCs will soon be zombies.
> Maybe that's why Gates and many others fled the company,
> making Frankenballmer the Zombie King.
ROFL
> Related:
>
> How Long Does It Take To Catch A Computer Virus?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Would you believe only 8 seconds?
> |
> | In fact, after only 8 seconds, the unsuspecting little rascal was
> | undergoing the machine equivalent of being turned into a "Pod
> | person from the planet Mars!" First, it was hit by Sasser, one of
> | the fastest spreading worms on the Internet. Then it started
> | downloading strange programs from mysterious internet addresses.
> | Then it started looking for other machines to infect.
> |
> | Within five minutes, the little rapscallion was running so many
> | malicious programs that it was running totally choked up and its
> | CPU was 100% occupied performing virus-related tasks.
> `----
This article did specify that it was running a Windows XP machine.
Now, anyone want a guess as to how many weeks or months a Linux
desktop system will run before it's infected?
Several of our COLA posters show uptimes of several months. The
uptime counter recycles to zero after something like 481 days.
There are BSD server systems which don't have this recycle issue that
can claim up-times of up to 5 YEARS when connected directly to the
public internet.
Usually, when a BSD or Linux server is rebooted, it's not because it's
been hit by a virus, it's because it's time to upgrade the kernel.
Remember, all of those Linksys, D-Link, and other Linux router and
WiFi boxes, have been working for years without a successful attack.
Usually, they are replaced because the owner wants the new faster
WiFi.
The fact that there are hundreds of millions of WiFi hubs and NAT
routers powered by Linux, and NONE of them have been successfully
comprimised, pretty much dispels the myth that Linux would be as
vulnerable if there were more Linux devices out there.
> http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=19700...
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