Have you patched up your Windows?

Have you patched up your Windows systems? Well, only licensed users can do it up!

Check out: http://bit.ly/9C3E6x

 

Microsoft today issued a record 14 security updates to patch a record-tying 34 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office and Silverlight.
Of the 34 flaws, Microsoft rated 14 as "critical," the highest threat ranking in the firm's four-step scoring system. Seventeen were pegged as "important," and three were labeled as "moderate."

And Microsoft site for the details:http://bit.ly/ah0NnJ

 

Today we released fourteen security bulletins

 

. Eight have a maximum severity rating of Critical with the other six having a maximum severity rating of Important. Furthermore, six of the fourteen bulletins either do not affect the latest version of our products or affect them with reduced severity. We hope that the table below helps you prioritize the deployment of the updates appropriately for your environment.

Microsoft

 

rated all those vulnerabilities with a "1" on the exploitability index.

Looks like a SysAdmin's nightmare!! In the Indian Govt context, those entrusted to take care and be responsible for huge IT infrastructures, with most machines on Windows platforms (licenses??? - who heard of them!!) can only pray! :-/

Give Linux a try - a few Gems

A lot of friends and colleagues have been enthused to use GNU/Linux (especially Ubuntu and Mandriva distributions!!), post some encouragement and hand holding by me and few of my Open Source advocate friends. I do try to explain to the new converts the pros and cons of using Linux, and though most of the time I feel I am able to drive home the point, I needed some 'Gems' sentences/views that would appropirately address my following views:-

• Don't dump Windows!! Its good to know at least one other Operating System other than just 'Windows'. Let that other OS be Linux.
  
• Don't dismiss Linux without trying it for sometime patiently
  
• Take some time (at least a week!!) to learn Linux as you have spent a lifetime learning Windows - just to be fair to Linux
  

I came across an excellent article on Linux and Windows, which I thought I should share.  I feel this article is very eloquent and rightly captures the essence of the Windows vs Linux debate. Based on my experience, one of the major factor of many users being dis-illusioned with Linux  post loading/installing Linux is they they find that they cannot play their Movies(AVI/MPG files) or MP3s right away (nor watch YouTube videos on the web right away view Flash issues!!). Of course this can be easily sorted out (in a jiffy!!) on Linux with a few clicks of the button. This article explains the solution to this dilemma lucidly.

I have compiled some of the beautiful 'gems' that the author has expressed which are so apt and relevant. Please have patience and go through them, ponder on them.

Due credit to the author for an excellent article:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/codecs.html

The Gems or Take aways that I have gleaned and compiled from the article are as under mentioned

• Windows or Linux, it does not matter. Both offer the same thing, wrapped in different shapes and colors. When it comes to what you need, you'll have it regardless which kernel you boot on your machine.
• Unfortunately, lack of familiarity and difficulty translates into one and the same thing for most people. Usually, this means a big, fat accusing finger is pointed at Linux as being a dreadful toy of geeks with its hideous command line.
• Habits make us vulnerable. The more used we get to something the harder for us it is to adapt to new ideas. Habits are the exact opposite of evolution. They force us to do the same things all over, even if they are outdated, inefficient and plain wrong.
• Don't let your habits slow you down. Open your mind. Most importantly, do not use ignorance as a weapon to trash unfamiliar knowledge. Linux is definitely hard. I will never dispute that. But it's no more or less difficult than Windows. As it happens, Windows was there first to set the visual rules how things out to be.
• Windows, Linux, it does not matter. Forget what you know. Shed your filthy habits away and become a toddler, learning the world anew. Without preconceptions, without social pressure and without the monkey effect dragging you down. Become a child, become a sponge and just suck all that new, exciting knowledge in.
• Running operating systems is very much like walking. Once you get used to them, it becomes natural. And switching to a whole new one is a big trauma.
• Forget the Start button in the left bottom corner, forget the old ways. With the slate clean, learning Linux will be the same as Windows, probably more fun. Remember how you used to get angry and frustrated when you tried Windows 95 for the first time and nothing was really how you expected it to be?
• Software is hard. Think about it! It's developed by people who eat their own toenail clippings! What do you expect from people who spend their entire life staring at long lines of code. Do you honestly think they can possibly understand what someone with an IQ of a banana needs? Or how they think?
• People using Windows think Windows is easy because this is what they know. They have grown used to it. They have developed habits. They know where to click. Most users have no idea what they're doing, but mimicking actions is one of the major human trades, the ability to learn and adapt.
• All operating systems are equally hard - or simple, depends on how you look at it.
• Operating systems are not easy. But even monkeys will learn to operate a keyboard after a sufficient amount of random hammering against the plastic knobs.
• The key is in the knowledge. And if you have the ability to perform an educated research of your needs and find the right solution, then the use of operating systems is completely transparent and comes to personal preference and maybe a few necessities. But in general, it won't make any difference. Any which OS goes. 
• Installing codecs on Linux is terribly simple - and safe. It's definitely far easier than doing this on Windows, to say nothing of safety and quality. You do not entrust your operating system to unknown, untested software you download from the Web. You use thoroughly tested software from the official installation sources.
• While Windows ships with just one media player available for users, Linux distributions offers tens of great products, some installed, others available in the repositories.
  

(above from : http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/codecs.html)

Don't use Windows for Internet Banking

Came across this must read article, which I thought is a must share when we live, connect, commerce so much online these days. The article (dated 08 Oct 09) stems from deposition by the New South Wales Police, Australia during a public hearing on Cybercrime  and can be found here.

The article is rather simplistic as it does not goes into technical details, but does drives home the point. The recommendation to use Linux clean boot or using iPhone is pretty sensible and recommended.

An extract of the article:

" Cybercrime expert endorses Linux, iPhone when banking online.

Consumers wanting to safely connect to their internet banking service should use Linux or the Apple iPhone, according to a detective inspector from the NSW Police, who was giving evidence on behalf of the NSW Government at the public hearing into Cybercrime today in Sydney.

Detective Inspector Bruce van der Graaf from the Computer Crime Investigation Unit told the hearing that he uses two rules to protect himself from cybercriminals when banking online. The first rule, he said, was to never click on hyperlinks to the banking site and the second was to avoid Microsoft Windows."

Of course I don't use Microsoft Windows - simply see no sense in spending good money on a legal copy - when I can do all my work (including word processing, presentations, graphics, multimedia) and more in my Linux distributions - Ubuntu (home use) and Debian (Office use).

We need to be much more careful and aware and consider this startling statistics, (thank your stars if you are not already a victim):

"Symantec has release a report indicating that cyber crime has surpassed illegal drug trafficking as a criminal moneymaker, and 1 in 5 will become a Victim." - from this site

And in case you are using Internet Explorer (any versions!!), the default Web-browser in your Windows OS, please do yourself a favour and switch right now. The IE browsers are bloated, slow, insecure, and doesn’t render the web correctly. Check out this BLOG on why Internet Explorer 8 sucks!! and this website on Why Internet Explorer is unsafe. Though IE8 has improved a lot (check here - read the comments too), it still has some way to go (wait for IE9???). Also do yourselves another favour and learn/be-aware about modern, standards-compliant browsers.

Though I am a big fan of Firefox (it is extensible with excellent add-ons, secure, and Open Source), you can try out other light-weight browsers too like Opera, Camino (on Mac OS), Chrome etc. Here is a long list of web-browsers!!