I'm suspicious of the general tone of that article, as Mr. Briere is
flogging the new network-based protection from the French company. That
said: There's no software or hardware that is going to protect end-users
willing to click on links they haven't checked, nor unwilling to implement
good passwords, different on each site on which they log in, etc. Its
possible to educate about those things, but a surprising number of people
are quite resistant to doing what they have to in order to be safer.
Coupled with the inherently poorer security model under which Windows was
designed, compared with Mac, Linux, and now Chrome OS, infection rates
remain high.
Add to that the fact that Windows users are well-trained by the OS itself
to do exactly what they shouldn't: download things from all over the 'net.
The way in which device drivers and other necessary software are provided
virtually guarantees the situation is as it is. Given that environment, the
average person simply doesn't know enough systems administration, nor
enough about networking, to be able to adequately maintain and safeguard
their equipment.
A large portion of the problem, I believe, is the idea that many people
have that they simply must use a Windows PC to be able to do what they
want. I'd say that at least 75% of those I know do NOT need a Windows (or
any other) desktop or laptop PC. As people who primarily use the web for
things like email, facebook, google+, twitter and pinterest, any device
which provides a web browser would be adequate. Even the sort of photo
editing they care to do can be done that way.
While it's not a complete answer to the issues of malware, simply
encouraging those who don't need a PC to switch to something like an iOS or
Android tablet, or a Chromebook or Chromebox would solve much of the issue
of malware by vastly reducing the available attack surface. It would save
most people a good deal of money and aggravation, also.
On Sun, Oct 26, 2014 at 2:45 AM, Jez Cunningham <jez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It surprised me what % of mobiles have viruses...
>
> On Sunday, October 26, 2014, ChrisB <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Use safer products, perhaps, Jez. I was rather dismayed to note that
> > ChrisT was still using IE6. I would guess that there are many who still
> > use Outlook Express, another risk to the Internet society, as I
> understand
> > it.
> >
> > And use safer practices. Start a voluntary team to help non-digi-savvy
> > people with their online habits: don’t click on links, but copy them to
> the
> > address bar in the browser, for instance. My 80 year-old mother is
> pretty
> > good at this now.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > > On 26 Oct 14, at 07:09, Jez Cunningham <jez.cunningham@xxxxxxxxx
> > <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> >
> www.cable.co.uk/news/two-thirds-of-anti-virus-users-have-infected-pcs-700000179
> > <
> >
> http://www.cable.co.uk/news/two-thirds-of-anti-virus-users-have-infected-pcs-700000179
> > >
> > >
> > > Scary thought - but what can WE do about it?
> >
> > --
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> >
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