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85160670 (banned)
"If U know neither the enemy nor yoursel
join:2013-09-17
Edmonton, AB

3 recommendations

85160670 (banned)

Member

5 excuses for doing nothing about computer security!

PLEASE ....."So, here are five excuses that we hear a lot, both from individuals and from small businesses, together with some points you can use to argue back that security really does matter."....[ »nakedsecurity.sophos.com ··· ecurity/ ]

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

DownTheShore

Premium Member

EXCUSE 2. My printer won't work with the latest updates.

OK, it's not always a printer that gets the blame; in fact, it's not always hardware.

Sometimes it's legacy software that provides the excuse for sticking in the mud of yesterday's insecurities.

In particular, this is a very common reason we hear for not replacing Windows XP with an more recent operating system that is officially receiving security updates.

Heh, heh, heh.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

2 recommendations

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I like number 5 better.
quote:
EXCUSE 5. I only browse to safe sites.
Like Yahoo, Facebook or NBC.com. All those people who think porn sites are how you get infected really need to learn the facts that their "safe sites" aren't all that safe.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

2 recommendations

DownTheShore

Premium Member

I was on another forum today where the moderator had posted information about changes to the template, specifically how the advertisements had been relocated and various things about them. I didn't even know that there WERE advertisements on that site because my software strips all of them out. So I would guess the primary site itself would have to be poisoned in that instance, in order to get infected by visiting it (or, of course, any links provided by other posters).

Chubbzie
join:2014-02-11
Greenville, NC
Hitron CDA3
(Software) OpenBSD + pf

1 recommendation

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EXCUSE 1. No-one's interested in little old me!

Jeez, I've had to explain this common misconception to so many people, including IT employees... think I'll get this engraved on my tombstone. Then and only then will I finally be absolved of responding to this ridiculous rhetoric. Cheers!
85160670 (banned)
"If U know neither the enemy nor yoursel
join:2013-09-17
Edmonton, AB

85160670 (banned)

Member

Excuse ....""Some people will never learn anything because they understand everything too soon."..... {{{ SMILE }}}
redwolfe_98
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11

redwolfe_98 to 85160670

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here is something related:

»www.pandasecurity.com/me ··· tivirus/

i thought it was cute

jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
MVM
join:2000-04-13
USA

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It's a wonder to me why there are still any excuses.

cowboyro
Premium Member
join:2000-10-11
CT

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The #1 excuse is absolutely true for people in not-so-rich countries. No personal info to be compromised, worst case just reload the O/S. Really nothing to lose on their side.
#2 is also valid. Why change something that works well? My mother is running XP and it's not going to change. Sandboxed browser is all she needs. Even if a browser vulnerability is exploited it's sandboxed... NAT router blocks all incoming traffic.
#5 is partially true. There is a risk in everything, but if you only browse to "safe" websites (and most browsers these days warn you when something is unsafe), risks are reduced by 99%.

Let's not forget that the article is on the website of a security solutions provider... scare tactics...

huntermcdole
Premium Member
join:2005-08-01
Oxnard, CA

huntermcdole to Kilroy

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to Kilroy
said by Kilroy:

I like number 5 better.

I know a tech guy that uses that excuse for not having a firewall or anti-virus. He calls me paranoid since I have both. Now he believes normal users should have AV but he will never get a virus from browsing himself.
James_C
join:2007-08-03
Florence, KY

1 recommendation

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My favorite excuse is you can't make me and I can't be reasoned with.

If they just state that up front it makes me happy that I am no longer wasting my time or theirs instead of going on and on with no fruitful outcome.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

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The printer excuse makes no sense. I have a 15 year old HP Deskjet that started out on Windows 98, then XP Pro, Vista Ultimate and now Windows 8 Pro. It was connected via parallel port in the beginning and then later a converter cable so I could connect via USB. It's worked fine on all these OSes...although it is extremely picky about which USB port I use (but that is more a Windows problem than a printer problem).

I thought two other blogs referenced on that excuses blog page were far more relevant to computer users interested in security and privacy issues. They were both about privacy issues...one having to do with how Google plans to force full ID to use youtube (I think only if you want an account -I hope Google is not planning on forcing everyone who simply wants to view a video at youtube to have to have a registered, fully vetted adult account) and the other an extremely disturbing law just passed by Delaware that is illegal! Nice fight shaping up there as other states are poised to pass similar laws in violation of the user's privacy...evidently even death means no privacy if you use the internet.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

DownTheShore

Premium Member

Just thinking that some may not realize that a converter cable even exists, so the printer excuse makes sense in that instance.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to Mele20

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to Mele20
That's an HP Deskjet printer, an ubiquitous and well-supported piece of hardware.

Not all hardware is so ubiquitous or well-supported.
redwolfe_98
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11

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i read one article, not too long ago, that talked about how hospitals have a problem with malware on their computers.. it said that one of the problems was that they were stuck with using the original version of windows xp since a lot of the equipment that they used was only certified to work with it, the original version of windows xp, and not with the newer version of windows xp, SP2 and SP3..

one of the "administrators" said that his "solution" was to simply reformat the harddrives every week..

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

1 recommendation

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
And they couldn't bump the RAM ?!

I've never met an XP box which wouldn't take SP2+, if the RAM was increased.

That anecdote sounds rather strange to me.

Do they still need a new IT admin ?

I'm available.

goalieskates
Premium Member
join:2004-09-12
land of big

goalieskates to cowboyro

Premium Member

to cowboyro
said by cowboyro:

Let's not forget that the article is on the website of a security solutions provider... scare tactics...

+1

And kinda smarmy on top of it. "Look at all these dumb users."

The people who already know about security don't need the article, and the people who don't aren't likely to listen to people who call them dumb. There aren't many who are so dense they can't pick up on attitude as any cs can tell you. So who is the target audience here? Methinks the good security people need to get out among their public more; they could learn a thing or two.

Mele20's experience notwithstanding, there are pieces of hardware that are left behind over time. New o/s comes out, new drivers don't. Even when you're talking the mighty HP. I outgrew a really fine laser printer that way.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

DownTheShore

Premium Member

Yup, my scanner got left by the wayside.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

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said by goalieskates:
New o/s comes out, new drivers don't.
Which is why I stopped buying Microsoft Hardware. When you have to throw away a $150 flight stick because they don't support it with the next OS release you start looking for someone who supports their products.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20 to goalieskates

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to goalieskates
It's a Microsoft generic driver for my printer from 2006. The HP driver did not survive 98SE. My Visioneer scanner also did not survive 98SE and there was no generic driver to use. I was pissed because Visioneer chose to support all their scanners for XP except the one I bought which was only one year old and was USB instead of parallel port which wasn't on my XP machine anyway.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

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He, he, he
I vote more SHA512 4096bit SSL certs
DarkLogix

DarkLogix to DownTheShore

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to DownTheShore
said by DownTheShore:

Just thinking that some may not realize that a converter cable even exists, so the printer excuse makes sense in that instance.

I have an HP scanner that they never bothered making drivers for past XP.

would be nice to use it but oh well it would also be more inconvenient to use it vs my other scanner. but if I really wanted to use it I need XP.
DarkLogix

DarkLogix to Davesnothere

Premium Member

to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:

 
And they couldn't bump the RAM ?!
I've never met an XP box which wouldn't take SP2+, if the RAM was increased.
That anecdote sounds rather strange to me.
Do they still need a new IT admin ?
I'm available.

I think in the case of specialized hardware like at a hospital if they use an OS that the hardware vendor didn't certify for it then someone might find a way to raise a lawsuit.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
Lawsuit ?

Yah, trust things to go silly and illogical when lawyers [might] get involved.

Lawyers are the only party who consistently wins in divorce proceedings too.

I knew that it wasn't for a REAL reason.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

2 recommendations

Kearnstd to Kilroy

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to Kilroy
said by Kilroy:

I like number 5 better.

quote:
EXCUSE 5. I only browse to safe sites.
Like Yahoo, Facebook or NBC.com. All those people who think porn sites are how you get infected really need to learn the facts that their "safe sites" aren't all that safe.

The way I see it is that if someone allows ads to show on their computer from any website they are leaving themselves open to attack.

Advertising is right now one of the best entry points for infection... And Webmasters wonder why smart users block.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Kearnstd:

The way I see it is that if someone allows ads to show on their computer from any website, they are leaving themselves open to attack.

Advertising is right now one of the best entry points for infection... And Webmasters wonder why smart users block [ads].

 
That hasn't been my MAIN reason for blocking ads thus far, but it's surely a bonus benefit !

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran

Premium Member

It's been my main reason for blocking ads for years. That's probably also the reason I haven't had an infection in forever. Warez and porn are small time compared to malvertisement for infection vectors.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
I only began to block them this year, so I reckon that I've been lucky in regard to that sort of danger.

Inside of AdBlockPlus, I have noticed that you can examine all of the owners of 3rd party content on a website or page, can see their URLs, and can ADD more things to be blocked.

Due to that capability, I would say that ABP seems to be a very powerful tool, even more so than the author claims.