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Thread: Microsoft to Battle Spyware

  1. #1
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    Microsoft to Battle Spyware

    Nearly half the world's computers may soon have built-in protection against debilitating infections of spyware and other unwanted software, thanks to Microsoft's update of the Windows XP operating system.

    http://www.wired.com/news/technology...w=wn_tophead_4

  2. #2
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    This could be a nice feature but i think only few month later there will be other ways for spyware

  3. #3
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    I have to agree with MeinHerr Thundergod

    There will be ways around the precautions in weeks if not months........why?.............

    1. User ignorance (I use the term in its correct sense, nor pejoratively, or as an insult)
    2. User laziness and complacency (probably the biggest problem, but it does keep us in work)
    3. Biggest and most popular target?

    All other operating systems have their weaknesses, is anyone doing anything about it?.............not really, because they are not being targetted to anything like the same extent as M$ products.

    This amazes me:

    "Why this was never in there in the first place, I don't know," said Russ Cooper, editor of the popular NTBugtraq security mailing list and "surgeon general" of TruSecure. "Why somebody could bury something in your desktop setup that you couldn't find, I never understood in the first place."
    Perhaps the gentleman should restart his course at the "University of Life" from semester #1?

    I don't "understand" rapists, child molestors, drug dealers, suicide bombers, etc................but I know that they are there and are an unfortunate fact of life. Perhaps Mr. Cooper should try using Google, and take a basic business finance and economics course at the same time?

    If you read it carefully, what has galvanised the action is the support desk costs?..........but I always was a paranoid cynic


  4. #4
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    It was high time for Microsoft to do this. They have 3 years of lateness.
    But, as many users don't update correctly Windows, I'm not sure that spyware developpers will worry a lot for their business.
    Life is boring. Play NetHack... --more--

  5. #5
    Senior Member Info Tech Geek's Avatar
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    I agree with KissCool, as they try to fight it we will see different methods being used. One other method would be using programs such as P2P clients such as Kazaa to deliver the spyware in which its loaded through Kazaa and not Windows itself. With the amount of patches M$ puts out, I have a feeling we will now see double thanks to their new efforts.

  6. #6
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    Hrmm, now I gotta worry about bug's and all that *ish in their spyware detection program? Sheesh
    Space For Rent.. =]

  7. #7
    I applaud Microsoft for taking this initiative. I agree that ways around it will be found and used, however this would at least take care of the basic spyware junk (re.; tracking cookies, browser hijackers, hosts file replacements, etc).

    If this feature M$ is coming out with turns out to be a desktop intrusion prevention system I expect it will be a basic one so they dont step into the 3rd party IPS market. Kind of like the Windows defrag utility vs. Diskeeper. At least that is my hope.

    It should be interesting to see how M$ approaches dealing with filtering/checking mobile code in a way that wont break too much web functionality.

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