Today marks the end of life (all forms of support) for Windows 2000 and Windows XP Service Pack 2. This means that, while new threats and bugs will continue to be found in these operating systems for some time, they will receive no further updates from Microsoft.
If you are still running these at your business or at home, an upgrade is called for as soon as possible.
This Financial Times article reports that Google, without question one of the Internet’s strongest influences today, has decided to ditch Windows and move employees to Macintosh and Linux PCs. This move is reportedly largely due to the January hacks on Google and many other corporations, allegedly originating from China. Windows has a long-standing perceived history of having a worse security track record than its competition, and a large part of this comes because it’s simply the largest attack surface. Not surprisingly, the same thing that makes it the most widely developed-for platform for applications keeps it the highest profile target for malware and security exploits as well.
I applaud this move toward security and productivity. I don’t think it will be a easy task for Google, but I believe it will be worth the effort in the long run.
Does your company need to consider switching away from Windows?
The Mozilla project recently expanded their popular and successful (and free) Plugin Check service to support non-Mozilla browsers. So now, not only does this service, which scans your browser’s settings for outdated plugins, e.g., Adobe Flash Player, work with Firefox, but also with Opera, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and even, to a limited extent, Microsoft Internet Explorer. Given that unpatched client software, especially operating systems, browsers, and browser plugins, remain the top cyber-security concern today, everyone should stop what they’re doing and go to Mozilla Plugin Check right now.
In case you missed a previous post or two on the topic of why end users should not have administrative rights over their PCs, BeyondTrust has released a very compelling report on this issue. But first, let me ask the reader a few questions. (more…)
In yesterdays’ post, we offered a quiz to rate your password IQ. Here are the answers. (more…)
This month’s SANS Ouch! (Vol.7 No. 2) newsletter asks the question “What is your Password IQ?” (more…)
Last week, I received this in an email from Google:
In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance… we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.
It’s about time, and not just for those reasons. (more…)
Earlier this month the American Bankers Association (ABA) has issued practical, simple advice which could dramatically enhance everyone’s online banking security. And, I predict, it won’t make any difference because people are unlikely to do it. (more…)
Friends and listeners to the Fresh Ubuntu Podcast will know that I frequently raise concerns about Google and the information that it acquires about all of us. My concerns normally are along the lines of “just imagine what Google can do with all of that information.” However, I’ve never brought up what could be an even bigger concern: “What if someone else were to get a hold of all of that information?” (more…)