Warning unpatched PCs compromised in 20 minutes

[goldoni]

This is worrying, a report released 17th Aug on Zdnet: donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t connect that new PC to the Internet before taking security precautions, researchers at the Internet Storm Centre warned Tuesday. link

[Scarlett]

Originally Posted by goldoni

This is worrying, a report released 17th Aug on Zdnet: don’t connect that new PC to the Internet before taking security precautions, researchers at the Internet Storm Centre warned Tuesday. link

Last time I connected an unprotected PC to my BB connection at home, it was a matter of seconds rather than 20 minutes before it got Nimda all over it. This time round I had the firewall and anti virus install files saved from the last re-install...

[Alan Waddington]

This is why a router is such a great idea. It features Network Address Translation which acts like a hardware firewall & keeps out viruses which spread via Microsoft networking. If you don't have one then remove 'File & Printer Sharing' from your network connections before connecting the computer to the net. Enabling the Firewall in XP is also a good thing. In either case, the first thing to do on connecting is to head over to windows update & download all those security patches. Bring a book to read while you're waiting.

[hawkseye000]

yep, when we got this pc, i plugged the ethernet cable in, ran the ntl cd, and just as we were half way through registering, we got the blaster worm... that wasn't fun i can tell you...

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Alan Waddington

Bring a book to read while you're waiting.

Never a truer word spoken - my last reformat saw me downloading 64Mb of updates, and that's not including the huge SP2

[dilli-theclaw]

Originally Posted by Russ D

Never a truer word spoken - my last reformat saw me downloading 64Mb of updates, and that's not including the huge SP2

This is just general advice for everyone.....

If your xp cd permits - create a slipstreamed sp2 cd for the next time you have to reinstall.....

Ok so you still have to install some updates - but not the whole lot

Thank god this notebook's firewall is protecting my other computer

[goldoni]

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

This is just general advice for everyone.....If your xp cd permits - create a slipstreamed sp2 cd for the next time you have to reinstall.....

Can you expand on that one about a slipstreamed sp2 CD, is it possible to save the updates to a folder so you can archive them to CD for the next time?

[dilli-theclaw]

Originally Posted by goldoni

Can you expand on that one about a slipstreamed sp2 CD, is it possible to save the updates to a folder so you can archive them to CD for the next time?

Have a look here...

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1626

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by goldoni

Can you expand on that one about a slipstreamed sp2 CD, is it possible to save the updates to a folder so you can archive them to CD for the next time?

You can. Go to Windows Update, select "Administrator Options" then "Windows Update Catalogue. You need to know which updates you want though, it doesn't automatically find the missing ones.

[greencreeper]

It's not unpatched PCs - it's unpatched PCs with Windows operating systems greater than Windows 98 SE, particularly Windows XP. I can connect a Windows 98 SE PC to the Internet without problems.

XP for you - and still you love it

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by goldoni

Can you expand on that one about a slipstreamed sp2 CD, is it possible to save the updates to a folder so you can archive them to CD for the next time?

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1626

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by greencreeper

It's not unpatched PCs - it's unpatched PCs with Windows operating systems greater than Windows 98 SE, particularly Windows XP. I can connect a Windows 98 SE PC to the Internet without problems.

XP for you - and still you love it

So if everyone decided to abandon all common sense and switch to *nix then people who've been exploiting windows loopholes will start targetting the more popular OS, i.e. linux, then in a few years time you'll be going "Linux for you - and still you love it "

[goldoni]

Originally Posted by scastle

You can. Go to Windows Update, select "Administrator Options" then "Windows Update Catalogue. You need to know which updates you want though, it doesn't automatically find the missing ones.

In my wisdom (which is not a lot) I purchased a Packard Bell laptop and the OS is pre loaded with no Administrator options, the section is there but you need a password which neither Packard Bell or PC World will divulge, which Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m a little hacked off with because if the OS goes A-wall I am unable to repair as it asks for the password so the only options are format C or set-back. So if anyone knows of a workaround on this one???

[Stuart]

First, I should say that ALL operating systems are vulnerable to attack. Anyone who say's their OS is invulnerable is likely to get hacked.

Microsoft have made some stupid decisions in the past which have helped attackers, but they do seem to be taking security more seriously now. Especially with XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003. One particular problem is that in the past, the default install of Windows has turned everything on (I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to disable IIS while installing Windows Server 2000). Server 2K3 disables virtually everything, and asks the Administrator to turn on what they need. Far better idea. XPSP2 also turns on Automatic Updates by default, and nags you every 20 minutes if you disable it. Another good idea.

As Bifta says (above), I suspect the main reason that Windows is the most compromised operating system is not because it is inherantly any less secure than any other OS, but simply because it is the most popular.

Still, one thing that buys more time for patching. Install a good firewall.