"Out of those Linux security whole-how many are...

2007-08-18T08:52:00.000-04:00
"Out of those Linux security whole-how many are on the OS and not on other programs installed on the base system? If we say install a few IM clients, Office, Photoshop, Adobe Reader, Flash, Winamp, RealPlayer, and many other programs you need to actually use XP-you'll find out the Windows has a huge amount of TOTAL vulnerabilities. You should break out the numbers before quoting them."

"Yes, if a user is running as an administrator,...

2007-01-23T08:04:00.000-05:00
"Yes, if a user is running as an administrator, anything they run could theoretically disable the firewall, antivirus or other software."

The difference with AntiVirus is it is designed to catch the infection BEFORE it can do anything. If it catches it then there is nothing to do. Outboung filtering on a firewall is trying to stop something that has already infected you.
<

Outbound filtering causes some of the most prob...

2007-01-22T23:35:00.000-05:00
Outbound filtering causes some of the most problems for home users. Talk to anyone who works at a Microsoft helpdesk and they will tell you one of their #1 problems with people loosing internet access is the third party firewall blocking it. From a security standpoint it does nothing to prevent you from getting infected since you already have to be infected for it to try and connect out. The

Talk about propaganda. Only Linux could get away w...

2007-01-22T08:45:00.000-05:00
Talk about propaganda. Only Linux could get away with fabricating some imaginary number like 29 Million users based on estimating a 118k Registered users!

"I did a simple web-search for "Linux" and "Win...

2007-01-22T07:00:00.000-05:00
"I did a simple web-search for "Linux" and "Windows XP". The Windows search returned 103 million hits, the Linux search returned 201 million hits."

Is that a joke? Try "Windows" which returns 665 million hits. But how many websites have a word in it, hardly represents the usage. Just because Linux is talked about to death does not mean it is widely used! End users don't all have

"I stand by my original opinion that home users...

2007-01-22T06:52:00.000-05:00
"I stand by my original opinion that home users could benefit from outbound filtering."

Outbound filtering causes some of the most problems for home users. Talk to anyone who works at a Microsoft helpdesk and they will tell you one of their #1 problems with people loosing internet access is the third party firewall blocking it. From a security standpoint it does nothing to

I am not qualified to comment on this quarrel abou...

2007-01-21T19:04:00.000-05:00
I am not qualified to comment on this quarrel about the security of Windows versus Linux, but this market share discussion is puzzling.

I did a simple web-search for "Linux" and "Windows XP". The Windows search returned 103 million hits, the Linux search returned 201 million hits.

No it is not scientific, but at least acknowledge that Linux is BIG, and here to stay.

That is not defining it but giving an opinion o...

2007-01-20T23:20:00.000-05:00
That is not defining it but giving an opinion on the feature set. A firewall's main purpose is to provide security from attacks and the Windows XP SP2 firewall is an excellent solution that does just that. It is designed for home desktop users, which is an area Linux still does not understand. It provides security easily and unobtrusively.

I realize that, when I use XP x64 I

"Your definition of a firewall is quite differe...

2007-01-20T22:21:00.000-05:00
"Your definition of a firewall is quite different than mine. A firewall should be able to manipulate any activity that pertains to the TCP/IP stack. The Windows firewall might be good enough for you, but it certainly lacks the functionality most would expect."

That is not defining it but giving an opinion on the feature set. A firewall's main purpose is to provide security from

The previous reply was to another moderated post f...

2007-01-20T22:09:00.000-05:00
The previous reply was to another moderated post from Joseph.

"It is emulation in the sense that no NX bit is present. It isn't software though."

Partially and it is not full NX. Regardless there is a performance hit as opposed to true NX.

"I do think Microsoft owes its customers using XP the ability to fix some of the problems with hardware DEP. The

"It is a widely accepted fact that the Windows ...

2007-01-20T19:12:00.000-05:00
"It is a widely accepted fact that the Windows Firewall offers no protection against outbound connections which offers no protection against phone-home attacks which means personal data could window up in the hands of those who would like to exploit it."

You are a clueless, clueless man. It is IMPOSSIBLE to prevent outbound access in Windows XP. It is more of a widely

Emulation means it is running in software and t...

2007-01-20T12:22:00.000-05:00
Emulation means it is running in software and thus pretending to be something AKA "fooling". Only true hardware NX can guarantee DEP or PaX. PaX is just as questionable but it is better than no PaX just like DEP is better than no DEP and DEP with NX is better than regular DEP.

It is emulation in the sense that no NX bit is present. It isn't software though. I still credit the

I fully grasp that Windows is more secure than Lin...

2007-01-20T08:23:00.000-05:00
I fully grasp that Windows is more secure than Linux.

Emulation means it is running in software and thus pretending to be something AKA "fooling". Only true hardware NX can guarantee DEP or PaX. PaX is just as questionable but it is better than no PaX just like DEP is better than no DEP and DEP with NX is better than regular DEP.

Yes ASLR is better which is why Vista comes

Yes I am well aware of that but it is not relev...

2007-01-20T00:29:00.000-05:00
Yes I am well aware of that but it is not relevant to this discussion. Windows consistently benefits from new techniques, SP2 is an example as is the new security in Vista.

You are still failing to grasp the point aren't you?

No it is not, it is emulated, which means it can never be guaranteed. Just because some software "suite" is fooled does not make it a

"Actually, PaX includes ASLR as well. SSP, and ...

2007-01-19T04:16:00.000-05:00
"Actually, PaX includes ASLR as well. SSP, and other source fortification are the new techniques Windows will never benefit from as long as the majority of software made for the platform comes from outside Microsoft."

Yes I am well aware of that but it is not relevant to this discussion. Windows consistently benefits from new techniques, SP2 is an example as is the new security

It still provides protection. Without hardware ...

2007-01-19T01:44:00.000-05:00
It still provides protection. Without hardware backing you at best get emulation which is never a guarantee. Regardless software DEP is present on Windows XP SP2 and Vista adds ASLR.

Actually, PaX includes ASLR as well. SSP, and other source fortification are the new techniques Windows will never benefit from as long as the majority of software made for the platform comes from

"I said equivalent, not crippled. Even Microsof...

2007-01-19T01:14:00.000-05:00
"I said equivalent, not crippled. Even Microsoft's web site states that in software mode, DEP only provides some protection from certain error handling conditions."

It still provides protection. Without hardware backing you at best get emulation which is never a guarantee. Regardless software DEP is present on Windows XP SP2 and Vista adds ASLR.

"You also ignored

You don't DEP is provided through software in W...

2007-01-19T00:48:00.000-05:00
You don't DEP is provided through software in Windows too. Though NX support makes it even more secure. I think Linux users need to use Windows once in a while.

I said equivalent, not crippled.
Even Microsoft's web site states that in software mode, DEP only provides some protection from certain error handling conditions.

You also ignored the fact Linux had this

I find it hilarious how uninformed Linux users are...

2007-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:00
I find it hilarious how uninformed Linux users are.

"Why should need a new processor
when PaX has offered equivalent protection for Linux without the need for NX support since 2000?"

You don't DEP is provided through software in Windows too. Though NX support makes it even more secure. I think Linux users need to use Windows once in a while.

"And

Damage to what? Most of the unpatched vulnerabi...

2007-01-18T23:21:00.000-05:00
Damage to what? Most of the unpatched vulnerabilities in Windows are blocked with DEP protection enabled anyway, the rest via a firewall

Why should need a new processor when PaX has offered equivalent protection for Linux without the need for NX support since 2000?

And why should anyone trust that woeful excuse for a firewall that comes with Windows?

I find

"Until the next MS patch and reboot sequence.
2007-01-18T18:59:00.000-05:00
"Until the next MS patch and reboot sequence."

Rebooting is irrelevant. Linux clearly needs to be patched more than Windows.

"All I'm going to say Andrew is that your failing to understand the meaning of analysis. You are supposed to weigh up the facts with evidence in a balanced manner and then form a conclusion based on your findings. What your doing is

All I'm going to say Andrew is that your failing t...

2007-01-18T11:20:00.000-05:00
All I'm going to say Andrew is that your failing to understand the meaning of analysis. You are supposed to weigh up the facts with evidence in a balanced manner and then form a conclusion based on your findings. What your doing is presenting a one sided argument.

The time to develop, test and publish a patch is irrelevant since this data can easily be manipulated and the testing

@ Andrew "Linux is not more stable and reliable t...

2007-01-18T09:55:00.000-05:00
@ Andrew

"Linux is not more stable and reliable than XP. That just shows even clearly how little you know. I do not have any stability or reliability problems with XP."

Until the next MS patch and reboot sequence.

The facts are clearly stated. Linux is less secure...

2007-01-18T08:45:00.000-05:00
The facts are clearly stated. Linux is less secure than Windows XP. Security "ratings" are widely debateable on how insecure they make you. Something does not have to gain system access to severly affect your security.

I strongly suggest you get a clue, since I have been in IT for over 15 years. How much you do not know has been proven with your unintelligent comments.

Linux

Hmmm. Seems you fail basic logic. 0% extrem...

2007-01-18T08:15:00.000-05:00
Hmmm. Seems you fail basic logic. 0% extreme or high criticality ADVISORIES means 0 extreme or high criticality VULNERABILITIES.
With, what was it, 140 WinXP advisories? - that means at least 5 extreme and 42 high criticallity vulnerabilities (4% and 30% of 140 respectively).
And still 57% of the remotely accessible!

As I said, you aren't interested in any facts that

Comments on Popular Technology.net: Windows XP More Secure than Linux

"Out of those Linux security whole-how many are...

"Yes, if a user is running as an administrator,...

Outbound filtering causes some of the most prob...

Talk about propaganda. Only Linux could get away w...

"I did a simple web-search for "Linux" and "Win...

"I stand by my original opinion that home users...

I am not qualified to comment on this quarrel abou...

That is not defining it but giving an opinion o...

"Your definition of a firewall is quite differe...

The previous reply was to another moderated post f...

"It is a widely accepted fact that the Windows ...

Emulation means it is running in software and t...

I fully grasp that Windows is more secure than Lin...

Yes I am well aware of that but it is not relev...

"Actually, PaX includes ASLR as well. SSP, and ...

It still provides protection. Without hardware ...

"I said equivalent, not crippled. Even Microsof...

You don't DEP is provided through software in W...

I find it hilarious how uninformed Linux users are...

Damage to what? Most of the unpatched vulnerabi...

All I'm going to say Andrew is that your failing t...

@ Andrew "Linux is not more stable and reliable t...

The facts are clearly stated. Linux is less secure...

Hmmm. Seems you fail basic logic. 0% extrem...