WashingtonPost computer security stories

Sun Aug 15 13:04:33 UTC 2004

The Washington Post is running a group of stories this weekend about
computer security and the problems a reporter went through with her
Windows 98 computer.

Interestingly, instead of ISPs the articles identify other sources
of frustration for even technically savvy home computer user with
software vendors and overzealous advertisers.

A Digital Doctor Treats Computer Contamination
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64481-2004Aug14.html
By Glenn Paterson
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, August 15, 2004; Page F01
[...]
Her PC was in such bad shape, it required 10 1/2 hours of surgery to
restore it to working condition.
[...]
Finally, I abandoned ship, reinstalling the entire Windows 98 operating
system to repair the damage to Internet Explorer and allow Kathleen's
computer to access the Internet and update the Norton AntiVirus
definitions.
[...]
So to sum up, I spent one day cleaning up problems created by
ne'er-do-well hackers and overzealous advertisers and four more trying to
resolve a known problem with a product that is supposed to help prevent
problems, not create new ones. Yes, some of the trouble could have been
avoided if Kathleen had kept her anti-virus and operating system software
up to date. However, much of the responsibility lies with Symantec and the
rest of the computer industry.
[...]

What a Tangled Web I Wove
Computer Naivete Cost Me a Bundle And a Bit of Sanity
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64483-2004Aug14.html
By Kathleen Day
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 15, 2004; Page F01
My problem began the last Sunday in July, when my nearly teenage daughter,
newly returned from a month away at camp, announced, "Something's wrong
with the computer."
 [...]
In fact, her comment marked the start of a much larger headache, one that
launched an odyssey that has taken $800 and roughly 48 man-hours over
nearly three weeks to end.
[...]
I wondered if maybe some of the programs I was trying to kill weren't
really spyware but something essential to Windows that I shouldn't try to
delete. I called Microsoft and was passed from operator to operator as I
asked where I could find a list of legitimate Microsoft applications so I
would know what to kill and what to leave alone. But the only response I
got from one person after another -- most of them in foreign tech-support
centers like those in India I had been reading so much about lately -- was
that I needed to go to Microsoft's online sales. After 45 minutes of this,
I hung up. Then I gave up. I actually stood up and walked away from my
computer.
[...]