"The weakest link" (was Re: FilePro running on Unix vs Windows)

[Bill Trask]

-----Original Message-----
From: filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com
[mailto:filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com] On Behalf Of Bill
Vermillion
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 2:03 PM
To: filePro List
Subject: Re: "The weakest link" (was Re: FilePro running on Unix vs
Windows)

On Thu, Dec 16 11:14 , Men gasped, women fainted, and small children 
were reduced to tears as Kenneth Brody confessed to all:" 

> Dan Snyder wrote:
> [...]
> > > One thing that's changing is the number of worms that
> > > attack the Microsoft virus, Windows.  They've been
> > > steadily increasing in number and destructive power,
> > > at least if one counts the amount of spam sent through
> > > zombified Windows machines destructive.

> > This has nothing to do with Windows Server 2003 vs. UNIX.
> > Hackers target the weakest link and that tends to change. For
> > example, most SPAM used to come from poorly configured web
> > server CGI's and mail servers (which were UNIX based). Admins
> > and developers have since fixed those security holes, so now
> > the hackers target unpatched, unprotected client workstations
> > that have clueless owners/operators.
>
> [...]

> I think we can all agree on the "[cr]ackers target the weakest
> link" part. However, I think the "weakest link" lately has been
> the people running the computers, and not the actual software
> they're running. (Though insecure software obviously plays a
> part.) Nowadays, when even the most clueless person can set up
> a wireless broadband connection in under 30 minutes, there are
> plently of "targets" available.

> We just set up a wireless portion to our home LAN. While
> reconfiguring our laptops to use the wireless connection (as
> opposed to unplugging/re-plugging network cables around the
> house), I discovered that one of our neighbors has a wireless
> LAN with the default name "linksys" being broadcast to anyone
> who's listening. I suppose it makes sense that the WAP needs to
> come from the factory wide open, so that it can be configured
> once you get it home without requiring a wired connection, but
> they could at least come with some warnings about what can
> happen if you don't close it up.

> One of the new stories this week in regards to arresting and
> sentencing those who break in to computers had a couple of people
> who were convicted of ward-driving and penetrating systems
> with unsecured wireless communications.



 
> Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com

My apartment complex has a linksys netgear and dlink network all on
channel 6 that I can see from my apartment all with no encryption at all

Bill Trask
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