Bonum Certa Men Certa

Off Topic: A World Where Almost One in Two PCs is a Windows Zombie PC

A flaw which was found in Debian has stirred up a lot of discussion about security. People tend to forget where the real problem lies however, so here is just a quick clarification. I've personally accumulated literally hundreds of references about this, but here are a couple of more recent ones that provide the gist of it all:

1. Bots rule in cyberspace

USA TODAY REPORTS that on an average day, 40 per cent of the 800 million computers connected to the Internet are bots used to send out spam, viruses and to mine for sensitive personal data.


2. Botnets Running Rampant

How much money is being stolen by cybercriminals? No one knows, and no one even knows how to go about coming up with that number, IronPort's Peterson said.


The reason for posting this off-topic story is actually a bit of input from one of our readers, who talks about Microsoft's back door-happy policy. Looking at this latest article, which in essence shows Microsoft and its buddies at the Partner [sic] Group saving face, he paraphrases: "Microsoft Windows does not need a back door. Crackers, malware code writers and forensic investigators need not worry because Microsoft Windows is so insecure there is no need for a back door." He also points out this recent Slashdot discussion, adding:

“Crackers, malware code writers and forensic investigators need not worry because Microsoft Windows is so insecure there is no need for a back door.”"It reminds me of the laptops captured near the beginning of Bush's ongoing wars. The initial boast was that it was insignificant effort to crack the systems because they were running Microsoft Windows. Subsequent boasts steered clear of that and focused on the data captured.

"If you have trouble from the police, then you have bigger worries, with or without data. For the rest of us, there is an important warning:

"Police are never early adopters and usually adopt tools and methods only after they are in widespread use. Those that are stupid enough to default to Microsoft Windows and the compound that by connecting to the net, are asking for trouble from the various criminals and criminal organizations that made cracking Microsoft Windows popular enough for the police to pick up on it."

It is worth highlighting some recent stories about police departments that have moved or are moving to GNU/Linux and/or Free software. Examples include:



There are many more such examples.

Other stories of interest:



The impact of poor security on the police is only a small part of a colossal problem. Our reader later adds: "It's even more severe for large companies. Corporate espionage is multi-billion dollar business and can make or break products and even product lines. It still gets under reported, perhaps in part to Bill Gates' lobbying."

As the recent article from USA Today showed, 40% of all PCs are zombies. Sarcastically, asks the reader: "40% of all PC's or 40% of Microsoft Windows PCs?" It's quite a rhetorical question.

The Partner [sic] Group was mentioned at the start because it helps Microsoft extinguish the fire, so to speak, whenever that's required. It achieves this by messing about with people's perception. We've already shown in the past some lies from Jim Allchin about Vista security, fueled by the Partner Group, Rob Enderle and the usual suspects who cite one another for pseudo peer-review and validation. They orchestrate a blitz in vapourware-like fashion. The Microsoft-obedient press has for quite some tried not to incite public panic by unleashing the real figures and Mr. Geer even lost his job for 'daring' to suggest that "in zombies we trust." In vapourware and deception need we trust instead?

"In the face of strong competition, Evangelism's focus may shift immediately to the next version of the same technology, however. Indeed, Phase 1 (Evangelism Starts) for version x+1 may start as soon as this Final Release of version X."

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
10 Out of 10: RMS Attracts Massive Audience in Göteborg, Sweden (All Seats Occupied, Some People Standing)
a 55-second clip of his talk
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and "Linux" Articles by Bots
Sites that do this won't survive; many of them rely on slop services (suppliers) that will cease to exist after the bubble bursts
 
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025
Geminispace is Very Large
The word continues to spread and the number of participants grows
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Another Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, This Time During National Day Holiday
This time it's China again
Staying Happy in Times of Crackdowns on Civil Society
Optimism in this sort of "new reality" or "new normal" seems like something for the irrational person
"Nobel" Exploited Posthumously for "AI" Hype, Now They Do the Same With "Quantum"
ere have been many jokes about "Nobel" for peace (often granted to pro-war people) and a fake one for "Economics" (establishment propaganda)
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Links 10/10/2025: Putin Admits Russia Downed Azerbaijan Airlines Jet, More New Heat Records
Links for the day
Noteworthy Claim That IBM is Firing a Lot of Lawyers This Week (RAs in the Legal Department)
A lot of what they do is patent 'trolling' or lawyering up against their own staff (e.g. HR disputes)
Links 10/10/2025: US Judge Bars Attacks by ICE On Journalists and Protesters; “We Took The Freedom of Speech Away” Says the President
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers, Google News Gifting Slopfarms, and Fake News/Plagiarism About "Linux"
Google itself is a slop pusher these days
Qualcomm, the New Owner of Arduino, Blasted for Its Software Patents Tax on 'Smartphones'
A lot of Qualcomm's patents are on software. We wrote about this in prior years.
XBox Layoffs Rumours, Downtime, and Criticism From XBox Co-Founder
"everyone is ditching the xbox."
Links 10/10/2025: Honoring The Legacy Of Robert Murray-Smith, Many Articles on the Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: October Gothic and Reading Middle Earth Role Playing; C and Ada
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 09, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 09, 2025
Links 09/10/2025: Farewell to Jane Goodall, California Bans Algorithmic Price-Fixing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: Lost Wages and a Saga Of Continuing To Use Palm PDAs
Links for the day
Richard Stallman's Talk in Helsinki is Done. Tomorrow Göteborg.
There are scarce details in Finnish about Dr. Stallman's talk
New XBox Leaks Probably Serve to Confirm XBox's Collapse (Many More Layoffs)
It's very much consistent with what many other sites have reported lately
The Slop Song
The train wreck marches on
LLM Slop/Advanced Plagiarism Flooding the Zone With Capital That Does Not Exist
Many publishers out there still participate in this bubble instead of calling it what it is
Links 09/10/2025: Sacked Microsoft Workers Make "Sackbird", IBM Taps CockroachDB for PostgreSQL
Links for the day
"Happy Hacking Day" Richard Stallman Talk This Afternoon (From 14:00 to 16:00) at Haaga-Helia University in Pasila
Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 08, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 08, 2025
Links 09/10/2025: Impact of Microsoft Layoffs, More Data Breaches
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: Autumn Blues and C IRC Bot
Links for the day