[Anonymouse]

Ooh, things like this really get my goat! Once again, governments etc. are solving the wrong problem. Once again we have a story about hacking being reported, and once again, there is not one word about the real cause - namely people browsing the Internet with administrator accounts because the poor sods usually don't know any better!

I've never heard of a PC shop or store which takes the trouble to explain the difference between admin and user accounts, or why it's important. Yet browsing via a user account will stop all but the most sophisticated attacks in their tracks, because Windows itself simply won't let the scumware install in the first place.

Whenever I have someone asking me about a new PC, I always, always tell them to create one admin account and as many user accounts as they need, explaining why as simply as necessary. The best analogy is that it's the difference between having a ticket to a rock concert and having a backstage pass.

It's simple. DO NOT BROWSE USING AN ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT UNLESS YOU *KNOW* THE SITE IS SECURE AND/OR CLEAN. EVER.

If you need to install something you've downloaded, the safest way is to: download it via the user account; switch to the admin account; disable internet access unless the installation needs to be verified online or whatever; install the software; then log back onto your user account. As long as you keep firewall and antiviral software updated, your PC will be as secure as it can be without disconnecting it from the Internet altogether. Puting it behind a router is even better, as it adds hardware protection. Administrator accounts should be used only for installing software and making changes to system policies, not browsing.

And don't forget to secure your wireless networks, peeps!

Had Microsoft not elected to treat its users like know-nothing idiots and explained about admin and user accounts in the user manuals when the NT-based versions of Windows first came out, I suspect the global virus problem would be nowhere near as bad as it is. These damn botnets might never have had a chance to establish in the first place.

On the other hand, hindsight is of course as perfect as it is useless.