[Info-vax] Maybe a bit OT, maybe not.. in any case an interesting article

[Nomen Nescio]

Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> wrote:

> On 2012-05-17 16:53, David Froble wrote:
> > Bob Koehler wrote:
> >> In article <jp0rk3$jlg$1 at dont-email.me>, David Froble
> >> <davef at tsoft-inc.com> writes:
> >>> I rarely re-boot, and I never turn on automatic updates.
> >>
> >> This is reportedly the most common cause of actual Windows security
> >> failures. The crackers examine the patches to find out where the
> >> security hole is, and then attack unpatched systems.
> >
> > My opinion is that the most common cause of security breeches is not
> > having a good router and other firewall protection. No, not the firewall
> > junk on weendoze.
> >
> > If a cracker cannot reach my system, then he can do no harm.
> >
> > Anybody here that opens something that they don't already know about
> > gets kicked off the network. Then it's not my problem.
> 
> And the most common types of exploits are not other users contacting 
> your machine, but you inadvertedly and unknowingly downloading software 
> that exploit your system, and that software then connects to some 
> exterior host, thereby setting up an access vector to your computer.
> If you think a firewall is protecting you in any way, you are seriously 
> mistaken.

No, that's the whole point of Windows firewalls. The threat from Windows is
within, as you said. And a good Windows firewall (zonealarm, kerio etc) not
only allows you to stop programs from *launching* but also allows you to
*stop* anything you haven't explicitly permitted from connecting to the net.