Comments on: U.K. parliament computers get Confickered

Blog posts e-mail saying the U.K. parliament's computer network is infected with the Conficker worm.

[rayzoredge]

What I don't understand is why people are still getting infected, even after all of the bad press about Conficker. Does M$'s hotfix not work, or are people just retarded and/or live under a rock?

[tm_anon]

It's a little of both actually. The hotfix was made to stop the installation in the way it originally manifested. Now it's possible to get infected with a fully patched machine through a USB drive as well. I'd think Parliament would have switched to Linux by now.

[viper396]

@Tm_anon. Are you so naive and arrogant to think that if the world switched to Linux, hackers and virus writers will suddenly stop doing what they do? Linux is just another OS with just as many bugs and problems. Nothing would really change and there would still be people like you imply that some other alternative OS is secure.

[tm_anon]

@viper396

Are you so naive and arrogant to think you know what's going on in my head?

Servers across the internet run Linux. Actually, the majority of servers run Linux in one form or another. Yet, Windows has more malware written for it. It's a fact that every OS has vulnerabilities. It's a fact that every browser and every piece of software has vulnerabilities just because of how imperfect the designer of that software are.

There are enough reasons to write exploits for Linux just in how many servers there are, yet nothing has been written, even on a small scale, that will run.

Besides, the EU hates MS. That's enough of a reason to stop using Windows in and of itself.

By the way, try doing a little research into Linux vulnerabilities before you leave a comment. Know what you're talking about and certainly start reading comments for what they are rather than what you think they are.

[Hunnter2k3]

@viper396
Not really, he is right.
The way the Linux base (Unix and somewhat MacOS) is designed helps prevent a large number of virii from being created so easily.
The large number of Linux web-servers prove such. (only ones being hacked are ones ran by idiots using root)

Microsoft made an attempt at trying to fix this with UAC, and failed it quite badly. (one virus was able to get straight by it if i remember correct)
I'm not sure how they are going about it in Win7 yet, but for everyone's sake, i hope they do well...

[JCPayne]

Many places don't patch as they should because Microsoft has this habit of installing new bloatware with serious critical patches. And many times their new "features" or bloatware in the patches end up breaking other office applications or other stuff. Then when you realise it broke something and you want to un-install the new "feature" that is tied to a patch it then has the nerve to tell you "You cannot un-install this." Thus you have to reformat and begin all over again. (minus the patch)

[massfat]

@ppl above who think linux servers are better
It's not that linux servers are more secure, it's the difference between a PC and a server that is the difference. Servers are maintained all the time with top notch security, whereas PCs get neglected by users that don't know much about it. That is the issue here. Another issue is related to the way hackers think. If they can get around dealing with the servers that are maintained well, and instead go for creating a mass network via exploiting individual PCs without nearly as much security as servers, then they'll probably go for the PCs.

[JCPayne]

Bets.... After Windows 7 is released how many days will it be until the first serious 'round-the-world' again Virus????

[JCPayne]

err worm...

[hugociss]

darn, hope it doesnt get to Singapore...

[bridge solution]

amidst the endless rants msft vs appl vs linux vs....whatvvver.... does anybody ever notice that these exploits are often >>coming from<< servers?
the first virus i ever got (out of 3 in 13 years..1998)..came from attachments from a business partner with a mac, who swore of course that macs can't get virusus.. her machine became a carrier after being connected to a solaris based lan during a meeting. she managed to infect a dozen or more machines before she could be convinced that her mac was the vector.
plague carriers don't have to be sick to spread plague.
if i'm writing an exploit to create a bot or other net, the last thing i want is for it to be visible to linux: i want it to intereact with the p2p buildable by whatever system is dominant at the edge of the net, which is windows.