Spyware - big, bad threats.

[MarineCorps]

I like the way you put that: "most people who know their way with computers". Actually, most of us don't think he's *evil*, just ... misguided. .
.

I actually know of some pople who think for some reason or other that he is the anti christ.

 

[Padma]

I actually know of some pople who think for some reason or other that he is the anti christ.

I know some like that, too.

 

[vbraun]

My wall consists of running an up-to-date Linux distro, behind a software firewall, behind a hardware firewall. And I *still* periodically check for rootkits just to be safe.

A little paranoid there?

I run XP and Ubuntu 5.04 as my 2 main OSs. I will sometimes go on the internet in XP but most of the time under Linux. On XP I will stop my virus scan if I'm in the middle of a game and when it is suppose to scan the computer is usually not turned on. So I'd say that it gets ran once a month, and I still get no Viruses! I'm suppose to scan my brothers computer also but I haven't done that in about 5 months. I have noticed no slow down on his computer at all.

You can say I'm a little lenient.

 

[Padma]

A little paranoid? Maybe just a little...

I have a router as a hardware firewall, and I *always* run a software firewall. About once a month I run a check for rootkits, as I am not the only user of this PC. (But then, my Grandson doesn't know the root password, anyway.)

 

[The Person]

They do. Sometimes. Usually the "White Hats" find the holes first. It is actually quite rare for the bad guys to find the holes first in Open Source.

Nice to know. I now rest easier.

I like the way you put that: "most people who know their way with computers". Actually, most of us don't think he's *evil*, just ... misguided. But the fact of the matter is, most crackers will attack the easiest target. MS/IE is the easiest target. If FF gets a significant market share, more will *try* to attack it, but it will be harder to crack successfully.

I mentioned that there are hackers out there who do it solely for the challenge, so I think we still have something to fear. But then those who do it for the challenge probably don't want to mess around with your computer, since they only want to break your defenses.

Right. But would you stand behind the chain link while you waited to be sure your brick wall was crack-free?

One of the good things with computers is that you don't need to leave the safety of your security software to fix the holes. So I can still stay behind the brick wall while figuring out how to make that a reinforced concrete wall.

It seems like we both agree on mostly every issue, so why are we fighting each other?

 

[Padma]

It seems like we both agree on mostly every issue, so why are we fighting each other?

Good Question!

 

[jeannie]

This sounds more like venting, to me, than 'fighting'.

I use antivirus and spyware software. Even before I started using FireFox, I've only once gotten something on my home computer that my antivirus tripped on, and it was actually spyware. (The antivirus software recognized it, but the spyware software recognized it AND removed it.) But I rarely use IE explorer - used mostly Opera for at least the last three years.

And for the 10 years before that, I once got hit by a virus at a work site that was attacked - the entire site got bombarded by emails through Microsoft Exchange - but I'm not sure that I even had the virus - just got those emails.
And maybe three other times at other work sites, the sites got 'attacked' but my computer at the worksite didn't get the virus.

Of course, I'm careful - I don't open attachments from people I don't know.

But I really, really don't understand why some people want to create viruses! To my way of thinking, it's destructive - I wouldn't walk into a store and break merchandise, even if I didn't think I'd get caught. So can anyone offer some explanation for what I consider childish behavior?