So where am I going with this? Windows 7 has now been on release for six months. In the same period for Windows XP there were about six major security scares, in the same period for Vista there was one, but for Windows 7 there’s not been a single one! This sole attack doesn’t count as it was essentially a laboratory controlled experiment, not an in the wild attack.
The simple fact, and one that too many journalists on tech websites all too often forget, and where people like Robert and Robert B constantly need to be setting the record straight, is that because Windows is used by billions more people worldwide than any other OS, it handles more credit card details, bank logins, email logins and secure documents than any other OS. That makes it a target.
Internet Explorer 8 is a target not because it’s the most commonly used browser, but because it’s the most commonly used browser for people who don’t properly secure their OS, either by not having appropriate security software installed, or by not keeping it updated.
The argument here, as many have made over the years, is for Microsoft to bundle anti-virus software with Windows, but they can’t and shouldn’t do this. Firstly because as we’ve seen over many years, building software into Windows simply serves to stifle new versions of that software, and that the Redmond giant would soon be looking at another major anti-trust lawsuit if they did.
Microsoft is a target, plain and simple, and no matter how good their efforts to make Windows as safe and secure as possible, it’s the lack of appropriate bundled security tools, and the lack of third-party vendors to ensure people use them correctly, that cause the problem. As a good friend of mine would say, a properly secured Windows system using existing security software is as secure as any system will need to be, Factoid!
Now, onto the question you’re about to ask me, the one about the way Windows is written is flawed from the outset because it’s not based on Unix. I’m only ever going to agree with you here and I’m hoping that with the new unrestricted XP Mode, Microsoft can move Windows 8 to a managed code-base that gets around this, but for today, and out of necessity to support all Microsoft’s millions of business customers we’re stuck with things the way they are.
What’s needed isn’t constant attacks and name calling by the press, but education. When was the last time you read an article in the tech press telling you how to make sure these things don’t happen? On Windows 7 News we write such articles regularly but even venerable establishments as the BBC and ZD Net don’t follow up articles with helpful advice. Less than two weeks ago I wrote an article about what security software I use, and other editors here have done the same.
Even so the people who really need the advice wouldn’t read those articles anyway but they make little or no attempt to reach them or help them. There is, frankly, more money to be made in being sensationalist and name calling, than there is in offering genuine help to those people who need it.
The upshot of this is that Microsoft, as Robert reported, have had to come back and answer criticisms as to why their OS and browser are so (in)secure. The answers to both are quite simple. They’re insecure because they’re used by billions of people world-wide and Microsoft can’t reach all of those people to help educate them on how to keep themselves secure because regulators and governments won’t let them.
Hackers in controlled environments finding flaws in the OS and passing their information to Microsoft as was the case, is a good thing and should always occur. Please remember though that ANY security attack CANNOT happen without user intervention. And that’s the weak point, not the OS or the PC, but the soft-squidgy thing behind the keyboard, and education is the key to solving these problems forever.
At least, that’s my two cents…
My Anti-Virus recommendations are www.avg.com and www.microsoft.com/security_essentials and kaspersky maybe!
Source
The simple fact, and one that too many journalists on tech websites all too often forget, and where people like Robert and Robert B constantly need to be setting the record straight, is that because Windows is used by billions more people worldwide than any other OS, it handles more credit card details, bank logins, email logins and secure documents than any other OS. That makes it a target.
Internet Explorer 8 is a target not because it’s the most commonly used browser, but because it’s the most commonly used browser for people who don’t properly secure their OS, either by not having appropriate security software installed, or by not keeping it updated.
The argument here, as many have made over the years, is for Microsoft to bundle anti-virus software with Windows, but they can’t and shouldn’t do this. Firstly because as we’ve seen over many years, building software into Windows simply serves to stifle new versions of that software, and that the Redmond giant would soon be looking at another major anti-trust lawsuit if they did.
Microsoft is a target, plain and simple, and no matter how good their efforts to make Windows as safe and secure as possible, it’s the lack of appropriate bundled security tools, and the lack of third-party vendors to ensure people use them correctly, that cause the problem. As a good friend of mine would say, a properly secured Windows system using existing security software is as secure as any system will need to be, Factoid!
Now, onto the question you’re about to ask me, the one about the way Windows is written is flawed from the outset because it’s not based on Unix. I’m only ever going to agree with you here and I’m hoping that with the new unrestricted XP Mode, Microsoft can move Windows 8 to a managed code-base that gets around this, but for today, and out of necessity to support all Microsoft’s millions of business customers we’re stuck with things the way they are.
What’s needed isn’t constant attacks and name calling by the press, but education. When was the last time you read an article in the tech press telling you how to make sure these things don’t happen? On Windows 7 News we write such articles regularly but even venerable establishments as the BBC and ZD Net don’t follow up articles with helpful advice. Less than two weeks ago I wrote an article about what security software I use, and other editors here have done the same.
Even so the people who really need the advice wouldn’t read those articles anyway but they make little or no attempt to reach them or help them. There is, frankly, more money to be made in being sensationalist and name calling, than there is in offering genuine help to those people who need it.
The upshot of this is that Microsoft, as Robert reported, have had to come back and answer criticisms as to why their OS and browser are so (in)secure. The answers to both are quite simple. They’re insecure because they’re used by billions of people world-wide and Microsoft can’t reach all of those people to help educate them on how to keep themselves secure because regulators and governments won’t let them.
Hackers in controlled environments finding flaws in the OS and passing their information to Microsoft as was the case, is a good thing and should always occur. Please remember though that ANY security attack CANNOT happen without user intervention. And that’s the weak point, not the OS or the PC, but the soft-squidgy thing behind the keyboard, and education is the key to solving these problems forever.
At least, that’s my two cents…
My Anti-Virus recommendations are www.avg.com and www.microsoft.com/security_essentials and kaspersky maybe!
Source
