Tim: >> He had a USB ADSL modem. So, your computer is (almost) directly >> connected. I can't really remember which version it was, now. Tom Rivers: > The reason I asked is that it really isn't a good idea to take a pre > Service Pack 2 Windows XP computer and plug it into the Internet because > it doesn't have a firewall protecting it by default. Had your friend > been using a cheap router between his PC and the ISP's modem, he > wouldn't have caught any virus because he would've gone straight to > Windows Update and patched the system to a state of relative safety. That I know. The real fault lay firmly at the feet of Microsoft, who made such a crappy system, so vulnerable in the first place, and so difficult make safe without requiring additional software or hardware. It's as clear as anything to those who run systems that dial-up networking (whatever technique) should not have the LAN file system networking extended to it by default. Certain technologies (old serial, USB modems, wireless, etc.), make it very difficult to put hardware between you and the big bad web. And it's also a bad idea to rely on something external to protect you from faults on the inside. Those faults need fixing, not papering over. > Microsoft still has a lot of security issues concerning its products, > despite its Trustworthy Computing Initiative, and I don't see that > problem going away anytime soon. I don't see it going away, ever. Their mindset is just not that way. They've had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the notion of doing things more safely, but they still won't believe it. > Blindly plugging any unpatched system into the Internet, especially > one without firewall protection, is never a good idea. While I know that, most Windows users will not (new or long term users). And it shouldn't have to be the case. It should be safe, from the get go, and it should be up to you to do something stupid in reconfiguring it, before it becomes unsafe. -- (This box runs FC5, my others run FC4 & FC6, in case that's important to the thread.) Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored. I read messages from the public lists.
