Why I can't do my job. MS Malware.


I usually don't like whining here about strictly 'technical' things without 'education' involved. But I'm finding more and more these days that I am prevented from doing my job simply because students are afraid of their computers. They're afraid to use them because they've either been bitten too many times, or have heard horror stories of such.

And it seems like with good reason. Here are three recent articles talking about the vulnerability of various Windows Internet software products.
At the risk of sounding like a 'macmac,' All I can say is to repeat what that dude said in the Switch ads.

"Get out of your Windows world!"

AAGGHH!

[the links and text below come from <http://channels.lockergnome.com/news />
Spyware Oh My
If you ever needed more of a reason not to run IE and Outlook, this is it. [ UFies.org ]
ASN.1 exploit code circulating; universal shellcode only a matter of time
“Exploit code targeting at least one component of the Microsoft Windows ASN.1 flaw is circulating. Experts recommend applying the patch before it’s too late. ‘This exploit appears to work only against Windows 2000 Professional,’ said Marc Sachs, director of the SANS Internet Storm Center. ‘Windows XP is built from the same code base, and it may very well work against that as well.’ Users should bear in mind that it wasn’t long after the first exploit code for RPC-DCOM appeared that a universal shellcode for almost all Windows platforms came out, according to an advisory on the SANS Web site. ‘This is the same [type of] prediction,’ Sachs said. ‘It’s easy to build a worm around.’
Ibiza Trojan is a trip
“Web surfers need to be cautious of a new Trojan out there that exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer, for which there is no patch. The malware is introduced when end users click to what looks like a travel-related page but is, infact, a ‘hostile’ site that allows the Trojan to implant into Internet browsers’ machines.
...
The only surefire way to prevent infection is to use a different browser such as Mozilla or Opera, which aren’t affected by the flaw, Dunham said.”


Posted: Tue - February 17, 2004 at 10:29 AM            

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