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posted by chromas on Wednesday January 23 2019, @08:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the Alt-right-plot-to-rule-the-world-through-Windows-exploitables dept.

This was just too funny not to submit. Do you not have the latest keyboard-logging Windows 10 on your, um computer? Not your computer, you know. But now, it turns out, according to the formerly great tech journal ZDNet, you are at risk! "Awake! Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake!"

But, wait for it, only if you run Windows.

Over half of applications installed on Windows PCs are out-of-date, potentially putting the security of users at risk through flaws in software that have already been patched by vendors.

Around 55 percent of software installed on PCs across the globe is in the form of an older version of the application, according to research by security company Avast — and that number has risen from 48 percent in their previous report.

Based upon anonyimized[sic] and aggregated data from 163 million devices around the world, Avast's PC trends report also suggests that almost one in six Windows 7 users and one in ten Windows 10 users are running out-of-date versions of their operating system, also leaving them open to exploitation of system-level security vulnerabilities.

Some of the programs most commonly left out-of-date include Adobe Shockwave, VLC Media Player, Skype, Java Runtime Environment, and 7-Zip Filemanager.

Putting off installing updates and running outdated applications can cause bugs and incompatibility problems for users, but more significantly, running out-of-date software can provide an open door for hackers to take advantage of holes left in programs that haven't had critical security updates applied.

Well, there it is. If you run Windows, you are running a security risk. Funny they would think how current your capitulation to the "Dark Side" is would make any difference. But on the other hand, the advice in general is good, just do not run anything out of Redmond, where the Dark Lord rules, and keep up to date on security patches. Except on my Android Phone. They ask me to do security upgrades, and I think, "Why?" I cannot remove the goddamned bloat-ware they put on goddamned thing, and they want me to approve upgrades? Hell no! I will rot in hell with my aging Android phone, with a version of Android nearly as old as I am, because the bastards will not allow me to upgrade to a more current version!

If Linux did shit like this, systemd aside, I would be BSD all the way. Sorry, too much commentary for a submission. But, really? Am I wrong?

P.S. When exactly did ZDNet take the tumble? Does anyone remember? Was it with the review of the new Microsoft Disk Compression Utility?


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday January 23 2019, @03:19PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 23 2019, @03:19PM (#790618) Journal

    Over half of applications installed on Windows PCs are out-of-date

    Even many "up to date" Windows applications are ancient cruft from the 1990s, or 2000s. Look like they were written in VB or worse.

    The ENTIRE value proposition of Windows is the legacy software -- which is the security problem of Windows.

    Microsoft efforts to have a "windows" without the legacy apps all flopped. Windows 8 Metro interface. ARM versions of Windows that can't run legacy apps. If it doesn't run legacy apps, then what value does it have over competitors? It has negative value even because of the abusive advertising and preloaded crapware.

    If you took away the legacy app compatibility, then all of a sudden other OS alternative start to look pretty good: Mac. Chrome OS. Even desktop Linux looks pretty good.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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