On 9/20/2011 9:43 PM, DEFCON 88 wrote:
On Sep 20, 11:35 am, wrote:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/201...my-250956.html

A mammoth army of infected computers is being assembled, but it's unclear
yet what purpose they will be put to.

Wave after wave of malicious email attachments has been sent out since
August, and with average success rates for such mailings, millions of
machines could be compromised, says Internet security firm Commtouch.

Once infected, the computers can be loaded with additional malware that
can perform a range of activities, including spamming, participating in
DDoS attacks, stealing bank credentials and compromising email and social-
network accounts, according to an upcoming Commtouch blog post.

As a big iron (IBM mainframe) programmer, I'm always amazed at how the
Windows op sys is so open to viruses and malware. It would be funny if
it wasn't so serious.

VIRUS ............. "Knock knock".

WINDOWS ..... "Who's there?"

VIRUS ............. "You".

WINDOWS ..... "OK, come in."


It isn't any more susceptible than any other OS or hardware platform.
But, ignorance may make it seem that way.

Truth is, anyone owning a PC is GOD over the machine, there are no
limits on you, now and then, when you can do ESPECIALLY STUPID things,
windows will give you are warning or two ... most don't understand these
warnings, don't care about the warnings, don't even read the warnings
.... they are of the mindset "everyone and every thing is here to take
care of me and keep me out of trouble."

Truth is, if you are a computer moron, you should either own a MAC or
have a system administrator on a main frame keeping you from GOD access
to the machine and being able to screw it up.

PC is an open system, it is created for educated people who understand
computers ... the ego of most force them to claim they are ... obviously
they are not ...

Some don'ts on a PC:

1) Don't download/install software from untrusted sources.

2) If you are not computer literate, buy programs/apps and don't use
free ones, UNLESS from a trusted source.

3) Run a virus and malware scanner, they will assist you in keeping you
safe from yourself.

4) DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, ... allow anyone to use
administrator status on your machine who is not computer literate.

System administrators will almost NEVER allow you to install your own
software on their mainframes ... they know morons will shortly be
causing them all sorts of problems.

MAC/Apple is the same, their platform is not open, not easy to use free
apps/software on, not easy to write your own software for ... indeed,
they know 90+% of the people using their hardware are morons, not to be
trusted to do anything which apple does not approve of, and best kept
from EVER being allowed administrator status on their hardware ...

A PC is like everything else in the world, not safe to use unless you
are capable of using it ... but then an auto, truck, guns, industrial
equipment of all types, skill saws, ladders, etc. are VERY MUCH THE SAME
AS A PC -- KNOW HOW TO USE THEM AND THERE IS NO PROBLEM ... DON'T AND
YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF!!!

Well, will a PC, you really can't kill yourself, but you can be forced
to call someone to fix it which does know how to operate it ...

In closing, DON'T EVER USE THE ADMIN ACCOUNT ... DUMMY!!!

Have someone set you up a user account and limit your actions and use to
that allowed by a MAC or user on a mainframe ...

Regards,
JS