, 2004-08-19
What normally happens within twenty minutes? That's how long your average unprotected PC running Windows XP, fresh out of the box, will last once it's connected to the Internet.
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Infected In Twenty Minutes
2004-08-23
bub (4 replies)
bub (4 replies)
Infected In Twenty Minutes
2004-08-26
Anonymous (1 replies)
Anonymous (1 replies)
I have been an abuse investigator for a major UK ISP for four years, and I can testify to the "20 minute" syndrome.
I ordered a spanking new Dell machine in August 2003, and within 5 minutes of connecting up my broadband modem, I got infected with Welcha. You can imagine the amusement my fellow investigators had at my expense.
I didn't turn on Internet Firewall, but got infected during the Zone Alarm download. I hate to say it, but I dropped the ball on that one, a story I happily share with my clients when discussing PC security.
XP SP2 will help with this, although I have to say I'm not impressed with its current update policy. I have had to turn on automatic updates, and so far I have yet to see any evidence that the patches are downloading without using netstat to check tcp traffic.
Paul
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/262/28037#28037