Err, side note: The Register covered this last week - http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/30072.html

Incidentally, Tim, as has been mentioned before, the big fat reason that Windows boxes get hit so hard (and that patches aren't installed on a timely basis) is that many times the patch breaks more than it repairs.

For instance, Win2k SP3 right now causes many users to keep getting plagued with annoying and constant versioning warning message windows, which cause them to simply uninstall the SP (if they have the privileges), or clamor for the IT department to do it for them... or else.

Little wonder the patches aren't getting installed...

While I agree that patching (and testing) are essential and should occur with religious frequency, simply blaming the admins for it all is pretty sloppy opinionation.

As for the mention of Linux in the talkbacks, Pfft. The *ix basic security model has been around since long before Bill Gates saw '#include ' for the first time... and yet only a relative handful of virii have ever spread so far and so wide as Nimda, Code (insert color here), Slammer (which set all time records), etc... Sure, as Linux grows there will be folks who will want to try and root it, but a halfway decent *ix setup becomes a tough job for even the competent crackers. This means that it becomes an infinitely harder job for the script kiddies and the wannabes (who make up the vast majority of the yahoos out there causing damage these days.)

/P





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