TechBlog.TheVanguard.Org

Home computer users and IT Managers usually have very little in common. While the home user or end user in business sits at home or in his or her cube downloading every piece of shareware/freeware available (and thus clogging their Windows systems like my arteries and a two cheeseburger lunch!) the IT Manager sits in his office, pontificating about the stupidity of the users he manages and how they all waste air with every breath. The IT Manager is willing to admit that he probably shares in the blame for not being proactive enough, but the solution is less than obvious to him.

Later, he goes out for drinks with friends in IT, and they rant for hours about the latest technology from Microsoft while drinking margaritas and eating too much cheese dip.

Yep, we’ve all done it, and if you’ve been in IT management or user support for five minutes you know exactly what I’m talking about.

The answer is out there, and it’s not as illusive as you might think.

A poster using the username “reece_james” made this astute and hilarious observation on a Mac fan-boy website recently regarding “How to Get a Virus in OS X”:

“1. Find a Mac compatible questionable website and click on the virus you want to download.
2. When Safari asks if you really want to download, ignore and click download.
3. Once downloaded double-click on the application ‘MacVirus’.
4. When prompted for a password type in the administrator’s password for the computer.
5. Thats it! Now you can go and write an article along the lines of ‘Mac OS X, less secure than Windows’ and get 100+ posts a day from Windows fanboys…””

While not completely accurate, this post makes it painfully obvious where Microsoft got it all wrong (and where Apple got it right!).

In corporate IT and home computing environments, stability and low Total Cost of Ownership are key. While the Windows Servers may have some neat new features, the TCO for a Windows system is much higher over time, mainly due to spyware, malware, adware and viruses.

If you’re a home user, look into buying one of the new Intel Macs for price, performance, and stability. Over time, your Mac will save you money (and allow for a much bigger beer budget! No more cheap, watery beers for you!). If you’re an IT manager or CIO, Macs are attractive because they provide a low TCO. When you’re a cost item, that’s important stuff.

Okay, so maybe the title didn’t surprise you. Microsoft is well known for being a sub-par company when it comes to security. That’s why more corporate IS departments are choosing UNIX and the Mac OS for their server and desktop machines. What may surprise you, however, is exactly how dangerous using a Microsoft OS is.

Most people think of virus attacks as being something only an amateur would fall for – in other words, people think you must click on an executable or batch file to have your machine infected. Not so, according to the Financial Times. Due to a just-found security issue in every single version of the Windows OS, script-kiddies are now able to infect a computer with malicious computer viruses by only convincing the user to view an infected webpage. To make matters worse web servers can be easily hijacked. Many systems administrators don’t even change the default passwords on their web servers, making it incredibly easy for malicious attackers such as script-kiddies, Islamic fascists, etc. to use the servers to spread viruses and/or hate propaganda.

This new threat highlights the inherent problem Microsoft, both as a company as well as with their operating system.

This new exploit was located over the holidays and all the college kids had a full week to write their malicious code. By now, hundreds of variants are no doubt at work, infecting a computer simply because the user viewed a webpage.

If you’re using a Microsoft Windows computer, beware! If you’re using a Linux or Macintosh computer, be thankful that your OS is more secure than Windows.