Comments on: The insistence of parasites http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/ Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:05:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: Joe http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-12037 Wed, 24 May 2006 23:02:50 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-12037 They appear to be making things a lot better, but I agree it is going to be far from secure. They appear to be making things a lot better, but I agree it is going to be far from secure.

]]> by: michael http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11974 Wed, 24 May 2006 17:34:16 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11974 if you believe microsoft is securing windows, I have some land I'd like to show you. I give it two weeks before the first vulnerability shows up, and two months for the first critical. if you believe microsoft is securing windows, I have some land I’d like to show you.

I give it two weeks before the first vulnerability shows up, and two months for the first critical.

]]> by: Joe http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11747 Tue, 23 May 2006 22:42:27 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11747 If you think about it, Microsoft is cheating themselves out of sales by securing Windows. If people had to buy new computers every six months or year due to overwhelming malware, that is a lot more computer sales with a brand new copy of Windows installed. If you think about it, Microsoft is cheating themselves out of sales by securing Windows. If people had to buy new computers every six months or year due to overwhelming malware, that is a lot more computer sales with a brand new copy of Windows installed.

]]> by: MeanderingMan http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11705 Tue, 23 May 2006 19:38:02 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11705 I regularly get calls from friends and family telling me their "computers are full" and they need more memory. Inevitably, when I go over to look at their systems (the usual fee is a bottle of wine) they are almost always bogged down with search-bars in IE, spyware, malware, _occasionally_ viruses or trojans, dialers, etc. I spend an hour or two just cleaning tons of crap off of their hard-drives, then switch them to Firefox. It sometimes helps, sometimes not. Some of these nasties cannot be removed automatically, and require boots into Safe Mode (Windows) and manually deleting files or registry entries. You're right: What would they do without me or people like me? Buy new computers every six months because "they are full"? I regularly get calls from friends and family telling me their “computers are full” and they need more memory. Inevitably, when I go over to look at their systems (the usual fee is a bottle of wine) they are almost always bogged down with search-bars in IE, spyware, malware, _occasionally_ viruses or trojans, dialers, etc.

I spend an hour or two just cleaning tons of crap off of their hard-drives, then switch them to Firefox. It sometimes helps, sometimes not.

Some of these nasties cannot be removed automatically, and require boots into Safe Mode (Windows) and manually deleting files or registry entries.

You’re right: What would they do without me or people like me? Buy new computers every six months because “they are full”?

]]> by: Joe http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11703 Tue, 23 May 2006 19:33:55 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11703 I worked on one that sounds very similar, except it was covered in dust on the inside and outside. A thick layer of orange dust coated everything. Never having seen orange dust, I was a bit confused. I knew they had pets, but this didn't look like pet hair. Turns out the owner smokes cigars indoors. Cleaning that was easy, getting the spyware out was more difficult. I don't know how people can continue using computers like this, but I can certainly see how they can get infected. Even though I have my dad using Firefox, he keeps somehow downloading bad EXEs. Luckily he has McAffee that warns him when it detects them. Just this weekend he somehow downloaded PurityScan twice. He recently discovered Firefox's Clear Private Data on exit on his own so I can guess how he stumbles across this kind of stuff. There have been lots of worry that Windows Vista will put anti spyware programs out of business, I really don't think they have much to worry about. Some will probably die off, but no matter how secure Windows gets, there will always be some spyware that sneak through and needs better anti spyware to remove it. Anyway, how can you complain when Microsoft is only doing what they should have done in the first place. I worked on one that sounds very similar, except it was covered in dust on the inside and outside. A thick layer of orange dust coated everything. Never having seen orange dust, I was a bit confused. I knew they had pets, but this didn’t look like pet hair. Turns out the owner smokes cigars indoors. Cleaning that was easy, getting the spyware out was more difficult.

I don’t know how people can continue using computers like this, but I can certainly see how they can get infected. Even though I have my dad using Firefox, he keeps somehow downloading bad EXEs. Luckily he has McAffee that warns him when it detects them. Just this weekend he somehow downloaded PurityScan twice. He recently discovered Firefox’s Clear Private Data on exit on his own so I can guess how he stumbles across this kind of stuff.

There have been lots of worry that Windows Vista will put anti spyware programs out of business, I really don’t think they have much to worry about. Some will probably die off, but no matter how secure Windows gets, there will always be some spyware that sneak through and needs better anti spyware to remove it. Anyway, how can you complain when Microsoft is only doing what they should have done in the first place.

]]> by: Ajay D'Souza http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11664 Tue, 23 May 2006 17:13:08 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2006/05/23/the-insistence-of-parasites/#comment-11664 Tell me about it. I now-a-days look at people's computers and tell them that the PC is infected. They give me a weird look with the usual "I got an antivirus". Then I explain about spyware and set them off in the right direction. Tell me about it.

I now-a-days look at people’s computers and tell them that the PC is infected. They give me a weird look with the usual “I got an antivirus”.

Then I explain about spyware and set them off in the right direction.

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