xp security? where are the holes?
 

i just installed xp, almost a week ago, and i have had no problems after the initial setting up. a bunch of computer buffs at school said they dont have xp because of all of the security holes, and they say it leaves yor computer wide open to hackers (by hackers in this post i mean malevolent people who exploit software backdoors to get into your computer and fudge around. i know some of you dont like the word 'hacker' :D ). will zone alarm catch them all? what increases/decreases risk? im not that concerned, i could always reformat and reinstall everything, it would take a day or so, but everythings backed up extensively (ie all mp3's, all install files, and a screenshot of my desktop so i can get all those silly icons back where they belong). it would be a pain in the ass, though. any suggestions? comments? is anything i said inaccurate? im retarded :igor: and i know it so any dumb idiot oriented help would be good. thanks :)

i got norton 2002 and zone alarm, and i watch them like a hawk! i try to have complete control over what comes into my computer, and ill look for the windows upd. page tomorrow. tooo tired.

We now know at least that using Windows XP causes extreme paranoia. :D

get a 56k modem :) and a virus program


fixes all hacker problems:D

XP is not the cause of security problems. It's a more robust OS that is capable of doing much more than previous MS OS's. Does anyone have a list of the exploits that have been found (and fixed) and *nix's over the past 30 years?

I'm not arguing for one OS or other. In my eyes Linux, et al, have a lot of uses, but so does XP. But, as has been already said, the best security in the world won't prevent a clueless user from doing something stupid. ;) Not that I'm implying you're clueless, stttafffy, you seem to be doing everything right.

-=Gonzotek=-

I think they may be talking about full raw sockets.

so, all that stuff people told me about malicous hackers being able to get into your computer with no problem at all and through firewalls and shit is bullshit? thats the way it sounded. anyway, i wasnt really worried in the first place, but i am going to yell at people tomorrow. they just make shit up like yeah, uh, xp + dsl = your computer gets f-d with. those duk---- i just snezed of my headphones :D anyway, thanks :)

Yeah, that's the one Steve Gibson of www.grc.com fame is always going on about. Of course, it's been in *nices (*nixes?) for oh, about FOREVER. ;)

Of course he doesn't mention any of the advantages that full raw sockets give XP users over older MS OS's.

Relevant articles:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-proje.../msg00013.html

http://www.linuxdoc.org/LDP/khg/Hype.../khg/18/1.html

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...nxref_8xo2.asp

http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,2997,a%253D15604,00.asp

Draw your own conclusions, but from what you've mentioned already, I'd say you're as safe as you can be.
-=Gonzotek=-

hell... visit any "computer security" related site and you can be filled with unix related exploits. like mentioned above, the big difference is that exploits are given diverted attention when it comes to fixing them. not to mention unix users are a bit more computer savvy than uncle bob with an emachine and the "idiots guide to winme" as a bible.

people came out with a few holes in xp recently during it's launch time and presently since it's still a "fresh" os. yet i'm sure people who have nothing better to do found and exploited win9x series and win2k during their infancy. maybe since ms promised better security with xp it kind of backfired.

done and done.