"Billy H" wrote in message news:43de8c45$0$6992$ snipped-for-privacy@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net... : : "Pop" wrote in message : news:0WbCf.5643$Jn1.2600@trndny01... : > . : > "Paul Hovnanian P.E." wrote in message : > news: snipped-for-privacy@Hovnanian.com... : > : Beachcomber wrote: : > : >
: > : > On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 13:36:58 GMT, "Pop" : > : > : > wrote: : > : >
: > ...
: > ==> Yeah, Windows is by far the most numerous of systems out : > there and thus provides/d the most opportunities. : > Unfortunately, it's "not just for windows" anymore. Unix : > flavors are beginning to be clobbered by the port mongers and : > scanners now and the success rate is fairly high in some areas. : > Unix et al are great for the techincally oriented, but so many : > newbies have jumped to it, that it's opening up a lot of holes : > for exploits. : : I heard say Unix is less defended but likewise less threatened by virus : assaults. Is this true and if so why?
===> I think that's basically true; my own experience with Unix flavors (Knoppix, then Linux) is rather mediocre so I have little experience; I never got up the learning curve far enough to be any kind of good source for them. From those who are non-fanatical enough to talk about it though, it seems that they're in many ways inherently more secure IFF the user actually takes the time to know what he's doing. One of the best things about those OS's are that they are mostly "roll your own" plus, unlike Windows, intended for a different audience, really, is that the user creates/sets the defaults; there are essentially none to start with. Instead of having javascript, for instance, preloded and turned on, it has to be added and purposely turned on. But it's those same pros that are cons in the hands of one who badly implements them. And those are becoming more numerous as more people "make the switch", hoping to be more secure. Then you have the dominance of Windows. If there are a billion opporunities to exploit one thing for holes, and only hundreds of thousands for the other, which one will most people concentrate on? Right. But then when those billions begin to be well enough protected AND secure, the bad hackers et al start looking for the next most likely target. IMO, that's beginning to happen, or has already started more likely, going by some of the problems in the Unix communities of late. They go where the money is and with Unix that includes some pretty big companies in addition to the bad installs of Linux and the like. Personally I don't think the holes and insecurities in the Unix flavors and subsets are yet recognized but will be over the next few years as Windows becomes more and more secure in the hopes of ever-increasing market share; a normal business expectation. I won't reference any articles et al to back this up because it's all opinion on my part, and I don't want to start any big debates I won't participate in. However, there are plenty of articles etc. available if one looks with their favorite search engine.
Pop