Microsoft security report shows worms are returning Microsoft's latest security intelligence report shows a resurgence in worms, although rogue security software also remains a big issue. Rogue security software was found and removed from 13.4m machines, compared to 16.8m last time. It is still an issue but numbers are falling. Worm figures doubled in the first six months of …
So if they only collect stats from PCs that actually get updated, is it fair to assume that the rest of the world's Windows PCs are unlikely to get any updates at all?
So all the rest are riddled with malware.
If we assume the windows installed base is around 1 billion machines (based on Redmond's guesses a while back), that means infection rates are more like 500 per 1000 PCs.
Which doesn't look quite so rosy does it?
What the government need to do, is instead of wasting money chasing P2P'ers is use the kit to detect infected machines. When a machine is identified as infected, it should be determined whether the infection was due to:
a) user stupidity
b) an exploit that has been patched (see a)
c) an exploit that remains unpatched
In the case of C*, the vendor of said product (MS, Apple, RedHat, etc) should be fined, in the case of A and B, the user should be fined.
* For Linux distro's not backed by a corporate body, perhaps the fine should be placed on the user.
I have dual-booted XP & Fedora for years, I run as admin in XP, without antivirus (it's a resource hog), I run an occasional scan from Fedora of the XP partition if anything funny happens, but have not ever had a virus infection.
Paris, because I'm still looking for a codec to play .exe movie files.
Well done. Ever consider the possibility that you are the troll?
Re: See - instead of punishing anyone, how about scanning and fixing as a public service? Also, it's telling that you state that you've never had a virus on your XP partition - saying you've never had a worm or virus on your Linux partition wouldn't surprise anyone, would it?
"* For Linux distro's not backed by a corporate body, perhaps the fine should be placed on the user."
Yes, all software should be backed by a corporate body. We don't want dangerous individuals taking control of their own computers. Also, since most Linux "distro's" do not have corporate backing, that would also help scare people away from using them. Brilliant idea - depending on where you're coming from.
And this morning my business ISP serves me an email for which Kaspersky detects a worm. Its in an email from "The Post Office":
07/11/2009 10:27:46 Detected: Email-Worm.Win32.Mydoom.m Mozilla Thunderbird [From:"The Post Office" <postmaster@<my domain>>][Subject:report][Time:2009/11/07 10:18:44]/mail.zip/MAIL.BAT
It is one of those emails that claims it came from my domain's postmaster - they have been arriving all this year, but this is the first worm-ridden one (assuming K knows all).
The header says: Remote host 196.213.162.210 (4ways.sevens.co.za)
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