Debian User Forums

It is somewhat difficult to avoid the temptation to 'blame' Windows users for using their OS of preference. However, certain circumstances exist which force computer users to use it even though they may prefer something else. Students and users of specialised devices that connect to a computer, cannot always enjoy the freedom of software and OS choice. I can mention my recent experience when I purchased a USB oscilloscope that I couldn't use under Linux. Kernel developers are still unwilling to allow Windows drivers, notwithstanding they know a portion of hardware manufacturers, do not want to write open drivers or publish enough technical data. It seems kernel developers do not want to admit the hard reality, that hardware manufacturers are too powerful to be forced to do what they disagree with.

Someone may mention the ndiswrapper project which aims to use Windows XP Wifi drivers under Linux. Ndiswrapper does not provide support for all kinds of devices. My impression is, ndiswrapper is rather old software that was written when Linux Wifi drivers were difficult to find, but that is only my subjective impression.

EDIT: Edited for grammatical errors.

wizard10000 wrote:edit: Actually you'r'e both kinda correct. DOS was demoted *after* the shell loaded but was still required to boot. If you disable launching the shell what you're left with is DOS

However it worked, Windows 95 is what drove me to Linux. I was one of those users who played DOS, made my own config.sys, etc. The Win95 shell was an annoyance I never got over.

Back to the theme of this thread, Microsoft might like to blame the NSA and others but the reality is that most Windows installations are terribly insecure and that's a big problem for Microsoft. Windows can be toughened up but generally isn't.

Bulkley wrote:Microsoft might like to blame the NSA and others but the reality is that most Windows installations are terribly insecure

There does seem to be some to and fro between NSA and MS and possibly nations that have been privy to the source code. It seems that, if the NSA found a vulnerability, they didn't tell MS unless it was a big problem for them, so the NSA only created patches for themselves. What's the point of all these extra eyeballs, if they're not willing to share with MS?

I still believe that Linux is more secure than windows.

n_hologram wrote:

ruffwoof wrote:One mindset accepts that risk and takes protective measures. The other mindset assumes safety where safety is far from assured.

I'm fairly certain this doesn't support the idea of running everything as root.

Puppy ... that runs everything as root (but can be set to run the likes of browsers etc as a restricted user) ...

Puppy boots in less than a minute, even in old PCs, and it does not require antivirus software. Administering Puppy is quick and minimal. With Puppy, you just have to take care of your data, which you can easily save to USB flash

It boots a pure read only system contained within a single compressed file (squashed filesystem) and runs everything in ram. If that file is loaded from a readonly CD/DVD (boot disc) and even if you were running a very old browser and as root to go to your bank web site (nowhere else beforehand) ... then that's pretty secure. Or if you booted and went to a virus riddled web site, your data remains out of harms way.

"If you are using the internet for a commercial transaction, use a Linux boot up disk - such as Ubuntu or some of the other flavours. Puppylinux is a nice small distribution that boots up fairly quickly.

"It gives you an operating system which is perfectly clean and operates only in the memory of the computer and is a perfectly safe way of doing internet banking," van der Graaf said.

ruffwoof wrote:

n_hologram wrote:

ruffwoof wrote:One mindset accepts that risk and takes protective measures. The other mindset assumes safety where safety is far from assured.

I'm fairly certain this doesn't support the idea of running everything as root.

Puppy ... that runs everything as root (but can be set to run the likes of browsers etc as a restricted user) ...

Puppy boots in less than a minute, even in old PCs, and it does not require antivirus software. Administering Puppy is quick and minimal. With Puppy, you just have to take care of your data, which you can easily save to USB flash

It boots a pure read only system contained within a single compressed file (squashed filesystem) and runs everything in ram. If that file is loaded from a readonly CD/DVD (boot disc) and even if you were running a very old browser and as root to go to your bank web site (nowhere else beforehand) ... then that's pretty secure. Or if you booted and went to a virus riddled web site, your data remains out of harms way.

"If you are using the internet for a commercial transaction, use a Linux boot up disk - such as Ubuntu or some of the other flavours. Puppylinux is a nice small distribution that boots up fairly quickly.

"It gives you an operating system which is perfectly clean and operates only in the memory of the computer and is a perfectly safe way of doing internet banking," van der Graaf said.

If your argument comes down to "a read-only filesystem is more secure than a rw one," I'll bias towards your side. However, I speculate the logistics of running this type of system full-time, especially on an environment like a server.

n_hologram wrote:If your argument comes down to "a read-only filesystem is more secure than a rw one," I'll bias towards your side. However, I speculate the logistics of running this type of system full-time, especially on an environment like a server.

Pristine factory fresh installation, configured and cast to a read only device (DVD) and any subsequent reboot has the system back to pristine again. However I only know of cases of relatively small clusters/servers using Puppy Linux. The main focus is then the data protection/backup policies (together with test system preparation of any system updates (next read-only system DVD release)).

The limitation factor is primarily memory capacity, however swap can assist there.

Penetration, shutdown, purge swap, reboot ... pristine again. Contrast that with having to identify and isolate the problem.

Job wrote:I still believe that Linux is more secure than windows.

It depends who installs and maintains an installation: Linux Malware Infects Raspberry Pi Devices Making Them CryptoCurrency Mining Zombies

Job wrote:I still believe that Linux is more secure than windows.

Security is a process, not a product. - Bruce Schneier

alan stone wrote:

Job wrote:I still believe that Linux is more secure than windows.

Security is a process, not a product. - Bruce Schneier

Its both things, id say

I havent heard in life of anyone getting inffected in Android Systems (linux system), and there hundred of millons of users using Android, and installing thousands of differents apps in that system. I go to google news, and you cant find anything about security infecctions in android.

I always said linux is inmune to virus and malware, and for what i've seen the last five years, this is like that in real life.

Lysander wrote:

VentGrey wrote:Apparently Linux systems are vulnerable too, in my compulsive paranoia I disabled root acc and set all my firewalls to high, and im scanning every 2 hours, I really don't want some ransomware here

Yes, on another forum one user said they were running Mint and they still got it, I don't know if that's true though. EDIT: Apparently it's not true, it was only written for Windows.

Fun fact: the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart runs all of their systems off of XP to this day. "Too big to fail" doesn't work when you build your empire on dangerously insecure software.

bester69 wrote:I havent heard in life of anyone getting inffected in Android Systems (linux system), and there hundred of millons of users using Android, and installing thousands of differents apps in that system. I go to google news, and you cant find anything about security infecctions in android.

Haha, Google News would be the last place to search for Android vulnerabilities.
http://thehackernews.com/2017/04/androi ... lware.html
https://www.startpage.com/do/search?q=a ... ui=english

bester69 wrote:I go to google news, and you cant find anything about security infecctions in android.

Fascinating.

Another wave. I'm hearing of quite a few large firms that have been affected here in the UK.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06 ... r-attack1/

Of course it would help if companies didn't do things like pay nearly $1m dollars in ransomware demands.

I wonder what's and who's behind these attacks? It's like someone is preparing for large-scale cyber war. Doesn't help that some Intel's Skylake and Kaby Lake chips have been compromised recently which would allow for data corruption/deletion. Coincidence?

bester69 wrote:

alan stone wrote:

Job wrote:I still believe that Linux is more secure than windows.

Security is a process, not a product. - Bruce Schneier

Its both things, id say

I havent heard in life of anyone getting inffected in Android Systems (linux system), and there hundred of millons of users using Android, and installing thousands of differents apps in that system. I go to google news, and you cant find anything about security infecctions in android.

I always said linux is inmune to virus and malware, and for what i've seen the last five years, this is like that in real life.

I wouldn't be so sure... there are linux malware, there is even a wikipedia page which attempts to list them all. also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv28Yg04haE
10 million infections:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4uyc5vWWIc
35 million:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo_1YfpOTm4

In today's interconnected world, developed and high-tech societies are highly dependent on the work of a number of services and services that have now become vital. A certain infrastructure ensures the normal operation of basic services and production systems in any society. ... In recent years, the level of cybercrime has been steadily increasing all over the world. The development of the Internet and the digital transformation of society is a "double-edged sword", because all this gives certain opportunities for criminals. Therefore, I advise you to protect your data with Norton 360 Antivirus and it will really help you!

RU55EL wrote: ↑2017-05-13 04:03

bester69 wrote: [...]More reasons for using Linux?

More reasons not to use Windows XP!

I recently went to a government agency where I live and to my surprise and amazement they were using Windows XP on all the computers, these computers have sensitive information, they're asking for trouble by not updating the software and/or hardware, a real shame!

On the other hand, someone from India gained access to my Netflix account, I don't know how they obtained my password, if anyone has an idea please tell me, I had to change my password to a stronger one!

eor2004 wrote: ↑2021-08-11 18:59
I recently went to a government agency where I live and to my surprise and amazement they were using Windows XP on all the computers, these computers have sensitive information, they're asking for trouble by not updating the software and/or hardware, a real shame!

Security incidents are actually extremely rare. They should ideally do something about it, but I can understand it if they don't. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but I can understand a company just coasting it.

eor2004 wrote: ↑2021-08-11 18:59 On the other hand, someone from India gained access to my Netflix account, I don't know how they obtained my password, if anyone has an idea please tell me, I had to change my password to a stronger one!

Your password was rubbish and it was bruteforced.

kateronhur wrote: ↑2021-08-11 13:09 Which of the cybersecurity methods do you know!? I would like to protect myself

Just don't do anything stupid. Most security incidents are PEBKAC.

Lysander wrote: ↑2021-08-12 10:23

eor2004 wrote: ↑2021-08-11 18:59 On the other hand, someone from India gained access to my Netflix account, I don't know how they obtained my password, if anyone has an idea please tell me, I had to change my password to a stronger one!

Your password was rubbish and it was bruteforced.

Yeah, that could be an explanation, but I think that wasn't the case, what I think happened is that because I use the same netflix password for other sites, there where a security breach on one or a couple of those sites (happens a lot nowadays) and they or someone who stole the passwords gave or sold those passwords or user info to these people and they were able to get my netflix password (and from other peoples too for that matter), I know it is a very bad idea to use the same password for a lot of websites but for me it's not easy to remember a lot of different passwords, maybe using an automatic password generator or something like that! Do you know of an application that can do that? I know that Firefox has an automatic random password generator, but I don't use Firefox on my smartphone or tablets, only on my Laptops or Desktops, so is not an option for me at the moment!