Worms versus Bots

Wed May 5 17:38:56 UTC 2004

On Tue, 04 May 2004 16:58:40 PDT, chuck goolsbee <chucklist at forest.net>  said:
> 
> At 4:19 PM -0500 5/4/04, Laurence F. Sheldon, Jr. wrote:
> >chuck goolsbee wrote:
> >
> >>>However, up to 90% of the users *are* stupid:
> 
> I didn't say that, I only quoted (Valdis Kletnieks) it... to which I 
> replied that compensating for stupidity is a zero-sum game.

On Mon, 03 May 2004 20:53:50 PDT, Michel Py said:
> In other words: if one is stupid, one gets worm'ed or bot'ed.

My error - what I meant was "However, by that definition, 90% are stupid".

In fact, I'm in agreement with Steve Bellovin - either the users need to master
the technology (which isn't going to happen), or we need to fix the design and
HCI factors so that what ships *is* something that's actually usable.

> So maybe they WOULD be better with a "WebTV" model.

Have to admit, that model *does* solve the HCI issues..

> Or a Macintosh.

Actually, there's multiple solutions - remember that monocultures are bad. :)

> Perhaps there is a market for "safe Internet access"... I don't know. 
> But I suspect the barrier to entry is either making it work with the 
> dominant platform, or asking the market take the leap to another 
> platform. Both are unlikely. What I do know is that the dominant 
> platform is inherently insecure, and many of its users, those 
> "non-technical" folks I referred to... they seem to be mostly unaware 
> of the danger they pose to themselves and everyone else on the 
> Network.

The trick here is realizing that compensating for stupidity doesn't have
to be a zero-sum game.

Today's window of opportunity:

"Microsoft is expected to recommend that the "average" Longhorn PC feature a
dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a
terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g
wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those
on the market today."

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1581842,00.asp

So you have several years to convince people that there are cheaper/free
solutions that are more secure *and* don't require a forklift upgrade....
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