In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
<newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:04:26 +0100
<2374788.g6fQb7GNhm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> __/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Thursday 21 September 2006 03:00 \__
>
>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
>> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote
>> on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 01:17:11 +0100
>> <7339090.E1hcz5a9dp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>> Over 50% of corporate desktops infected with malware: IronPort
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | The report also reveals that more than 50% of corporate desktops
>>> | worldwide are infected with some type of spyware with the rate of
>>> | infection as high as 70% in the United States. Trojans or malicious
>>> | system monitors represented over 7% of the infections. Rootkits and
>>> | trick loaders, which reinstall spyware and other obfuscation techniques,
>>> | make remediation very difficult thus prevention is the key to stopping
>>> | these threats.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.crn-india.com/breakingnews/stories/66870.html
>>>
>>> But Microsoft, much like our resident Winvocates and apologists, says that
>>> only 2% of the Windows PC's out there are found to have malware, according
>>> to some tools. Speaking of lies and bias, Microsoft also claimed a failure
>>> rate of 5% for the XBox 360. EA put the bar at 30-50%, based on a sample
>>> of ~500.
>>
>> One wonders if there are similar errors in the claims from resident
>> Wintroolies that Linux has 2% of the desktops. :-) Given that logic,
>> Linux may very well have 16-20%.
>>
>> Of course dual-boots ("duel-boots", as some put it) complicate things.
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Currently, only 16 percent of PC users in the United States have Linux,
> | and although that percentage pleases Szmajda and Joe Monti, the club's
> | other co-president, those numbers seem woefully small for an operating
> | system that is virtually hassle-proof.
> `----
>
> http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_4245848
>
Ah, but it's *not* hassle-proof -- just relatively
hassle-resistant :-) . One still has to install it, after
finding an ISO image (or buying a boxed set). I for one
would think that Joe Average isn't going to think about
buying an OS when he buys that shiny new 'puter; he wants
to take it home, plug it in, turn it on, go online, get
infected.
And one should be able to do exactly that, in an ideal
world. Except for the last bit, of course.
It's a pity the computer's BIOS can't download what it
needs from the NET; that would be interesting. However,
with current protocols that would probably take a few
hundred kilobytes or a few megabytes of ROM, to implement
the equivalent of a basic Linux kernel and a Lynx browser,
plus ancillary stuff.
I don't see it being impossible but it's an interesting
question as to how the next generation of computers could
level the playing field -- and whether there's all that
much incentive to doing so.
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Windows Vista. Because it's time to refresh your hardware. Trust us.
|
|
