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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Over half of applications installed on Windows PCs are out-of-date, potentially putting the security of users at risk through flaws in software that have already been patched by vendors.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Some of the programs most commonly left out-of-date include Adobe Shockwave, VLC Media Player, Skype, Java Runtime Environment, and 7-Zip Filemanager.
Putting off installing updates and running outdated applications can cause bugs and incompatibility problems for users, but more significantly, running out-of-date software can provide an open door for hackers to take advantage of holes left in programs that haven't had critical security updates applied.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?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Wednesday January 23 2019, @02:50PM (1 child)
Most desktop applications are simply not designed with "security" in mind. But you don't usually feed them constant streams of untrusted data, so they usually don't need to be.
A web browser needs to be updated as it is constantly exposed to untrusted data. Browser plugs in such as PDF readers either need to be updated or isolated (what idiot thought it was a good idea to open PDFs and other non-web shit inside a web browser anyway!)
But your various games and productivity applications usually don't matter one bit if you are using something "oooooolllllddd". Heck, that is why Windows still exists at all. Because people need to run that 1997 productivity application that makes their business go even though the company that wrote it went out of business in 2001. There is still a Windows 32-bit version of Windows 10 that can run Windows 3.1 and DOS applications!
And more often than not the latest and greatest:
- Still has piles of "security" problems, even if they fix one that happened to be exploited. Soory, your latest up to date stuff is STILL NOT "SECURE"! Whaaah!
- The latest and greatest made changes that make the current version unusable. Happens all the damn time. Vendor removes a key feature that you NEED. Or they re-arrange the UI to make it harder to use or the new version is slower. Soorry, the only solution is to stick with the ooooold version!
- The latest and greatest now includes spyware, malware, and/or adware. I can't even count the applications that have gone down this drain. Hey, asshole software vendors: Fuck you. I'll stick with the older version. It is usually these same assholes who are crying "your old stuff is not secure!!"
- Or as mentioned, the vendor is long gone. The "oooold" version I have is all that there is. Oh, sure, some other scummy asshole software vendor still wants to cry about security because they want you to switch to their own new, different, unusable, malware ridden implementation of the software. Oh, look, and the new version is in "teh clowds" so you have to pay a monthly subscription now too!
Honestly, these days anyone who cries about something being out of date sounds like a retarded 2-year old just parroting marketing drivel.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday January 24 2019, @05:11AM
I would rather open a PDF in my browser than a local app. Given all of the shit that is possible in a PDF file, I would rather use something that a lot of people have their eyes on where potential problems will be quickly discovered and patched than a five year old PDF reader in maintenance mode that probably has a gazillion buffer overflow and RCE exploits just waiting to be violated, or will otherwise fail to display a significant proportion of PDF files.
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