[Leaplist] A most serious reason to dump all MS, and switch to GNU/Linux!

[andrei raevsky]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks a lot for this one - I will forward it to all my Windoze using
friends.

Cheers!

Andrei

On 10/6/07, patrick <pberry2 at cfl.rr.com> wrote:
>
>
> Many folks are coming to me and asking me to help them solve their
> computer issues of sudden reboots, or massive slowdowns, by helping them
> to reload their Microsoft Windows 98, XP, or 2000.
>
> I resist with the simple fact that I can load Linux for them, immune to
> the million new Microsoft virus./malware/trojans/exploits in about
> 20 minutes while the vulnerable Windows will require at least two hours,
> and I won't waste my time if they won't run an IPCOP box firewall.
>
> Now, there has been, for about a year, a most serious reason to dump all
> MS, and switch to GNU/Linux!  It is the "Storm" virus/worm/bot rootkit
> for all Microsoft OS computers!
>
> This worm/virus/trojan/bot has run for at least a year, and is
> difficult, if not impossible, to stop, as it has been updated several
> times!
>
> http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/storm.asp
>
> Security experts state there is no solution to permanently repair and
> kill it in the Microsoft Windows environment, because it:
>
> A. keeps a low profile,
>
> B. only 20 - 25% of infections pop up, as it is 'smart',
>
> C. It is being manipulated, updated, remotely, after it is installed and
> functional,
>
> D. Storm bot net is purportedly run by active Russian programers who are
> very apt, on behalf of crime families.  Nobody seems to know who is
> paying the big bucks.
>
> E. It has a random operational cycle.
>
> F. The combination of mutation, updates, randomness, and social
> engineering of naive Windows users are powerful
>
> G. It is a sophicated rootkit/worm/virus/bot
>
> http://www2.csoonline.com/blog_view.html?CID=32845
>
> "I uploaded the attachment to Virustotal.com, which uses many different
> antivirus programs to scan uploads. Of 31 programs, only 4—ClamAV,
> eSafe, Kaspersky, and Symantec—reported a virus."
>
> "According to Postini, double-clicking the attachment unleashes a
> succession of modern malware attack methods. First, a rootkit will
> attempt to hide the malware from both human and antivirus scans. Then
> the worm will attempt to disable antivirus programs. Next, the worm
> connects to a custom peer-to-peer network used by the worm's creators to
> issue commands. Those commands might be to download additional malware,
> send spam, or transmit personal data stolen from the victim computer.
>
> Finally, to spread itself further, the worm searches for e-mail
> addresses on the victim machine and sends itself to any discovered
> addresses. The worm is self-mutating, according to Postini, changing
> e-mail subject lines, attachment file names and malware characteristics
> in order to evade antivirus and antispam programs.
>
> Cloudmark, another e-mail security company, says it sees similar
> outbreak numbers. Today's flood is 10 times as large as one this past
> Sunday, which also involved the virulent Storm Worm."
>
> On top of the WGA fiasco, that forced 500,000 Microsoft users to fax to
> Redmond proof of purchase before they could reactivate their computers,
> and then the one week shutdown of WGA servers over Labor Day, added to
> the Vista failure, lack of drivers, then to cap it all, the IE6/7
> vulnerabilities that run even when the user is in Opera or Firefox, this
> issue that requires a disk wipe and reinstall is a total waste of
> resources, time, and money!
>
>
> These are just some of the arguments I present to my friends, family,
> and clients.   There is no fix for "stupid", so some have to be let go
> from my world of happy computing, to roast in the Hell of the Evil
> Empire of Redmond, when they insist that they 'like' the absolutely
> broken Microsoft malware, and that they aren't 'pwned'.
>
> Yes, I even show them the logs of 1,477 or more infestations in their
> 'Microsoft' computers!  I think many humans are genetically linked to
> Lemmings, except the Lemmings only migrate over cliffs occasionally,
> whilst humans seem to do so repeatedly, and pay up to $100 for the
> privilege of a repeat performance!
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