, 2004-02-20
If hundreds of thousands of people are still blindly clicking on attachments in their email, is there any hope of mitigating the threat of hundreds of thousands of compromised systems with open backdoors?
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Knock, Knock, Knock
2004-02-20
Anonymous (2 replies)
Anonymous (2 replies)
The real responsibility lies in the core fact that most computer users don't know enough about computers. They want all of their applications to work together. Get an attachment, click on it, have word open it, etc.
All of that "behind-the-scenes" code which makes everything function as it should, is bound to be open to exploits.
When programming for "functionality" and not "malicious intent" it is very easy to overlook how a portion of code might be exploited.
Stricter Earth wide enforcement of hacker laws is a great place to start. However, it takes some pretty smart people and a vast amount of resources to track down the culprits.
There is no "point-and-click" solution to ending the spam/viral war. Pointing the finger at Microsoft, simply because they are the largest software company in existence, is no way to solve anything.
Microsoft has tailored a large portion of its product line to the "less informed" or "less inclined" computer user, much the same way as AOL has done for the Internet User.
The large following which Linux has accumulated over the years (yet still small compared to the actual number of computer users) are continuing to insist that Open Source is the superior system.......I would make a guess that ONLY 1 out of 1000 computer users actually know enough to even Install Linux, let alone learn how to use it.
In general, computer users simply want a "canned" solution. Drop in a CD, make a few clicks, and begin working. Anything beyond that, and they start reaching for the phone to call tech-support. The spread of e-mail viruses proves that point.
I now see a new trend of "social virus" starting to emerge by some computer users who "think" that they are getting "smarter" about using their computer. When presented with an e-mail which is asking for personal or financial information.......Instead of simple deleting it and going on, they feel the need to call the "suspected" company (Visa, AOL, eBay, etc.) and ask them if they sent out the e-mail in the first place.
This approach merely plagues the companies with unnecessary phone calls, and hence the "social virus" begins its work.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/221/25239#25239