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Old February 21st 10, 07:47 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.general
Mike M
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 2,047
Default ping Mike and Noel

Shane wrote:

The post that has failed to reach my OE three times now, despite all
the others talking about it having done so:


I wonder why? Surely the filters aren't taking exception to the number of
link in your post. Let's see what happens if I try sending it.

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/mic...ba1dcf0?hl=en#


Shane,

I wondered what had happened and why you didn't follow up. Reading as I do
The Register and being a Be user I had already read most of the links you
mention.As I think I mentioned the vast majority of the reported problems
were to do with default passwords and the like but also include, as you
highlight, underlying problems in the router firmware/os, primarily Linux.
As to the Home Hub problem, that's the price for using BT and being suckered
in by their ads. I'm still wondering who's going to pay tax on the various
BT Phon and BT Openzone wi-fi connections I'm now seeing popping up based on
users Home Hub installations. At anything up to £100/year I can't see BT
voluntarily giving the Govt more cash and I doubt there's a single user who
will do so, so this could be another of their ideas destined to be dropped
in the near future.

As to locking down IE other than for WU, IE fortunately isn't required for
updates when running Vista or Win 7 so on those OSs if wanted IE can be
locked down/crippled so as to be inoperable. As for running Opera due to
the current Firefox potential vulnerability, no way. I have a low opinion
of those running Opera and wouldn't give them the satisfaction of further
promoting their product by using it. Interestingly, to myself at least, I
don't think I've ever suffered as a result of a browser vulnerability but
that could be because of the limited number of sites I visit and that I
block lots of the adserving sites with my hosts file since many exploits
tend to use poisoned ads.

As to a third party firewall being able to prevent spyware sending out your
info to a third party my view is that once the spyware is on your PC all is
lost until the system is either flattened and restored from a backup or
rebuilt. For most users removing spyware that has somehow got installed
doesn't guarantee a 100% clean system unless one knows it very well. So no,
I see little benefit in adding to the firewall in the OS since those who are
most likely to need it are the very same that will probably grant access or
egress to all requests from the firewall. Hopefully I'd be aware of the
presence of spyware on my systems before it got a chance to call up its
friends, send them invites to come and play and send its masters copies of
my back details.

Cheers,

Mike