Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and bad news

Re:Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and ... by bad_user on Monday November 21, 2011 @03:06AM (#3260401)

     I wrong in wishing for Microsoft to take a step 
     toward sandboxing/code signing

IMHO, these are tools to keep a tight control of your platform and it won't keep the mallware/viruses out, even if mallware authors will have to be more creative. It creates a false sense of security (i.e. security theater). If you don't believe me, see http://www.jailbreakme.com/ ... a hack that can jailbreak your iPhone just by visiting a webpage and clicking on a link. If you have a recently upgraded iPhone, it probably won't work, but the author of this has already upgraded it to use a new unpatched exploit at least once. And I'm pretty sure that Microsoft cannot do a better job securing Windows than Apple did with iOS, mostly because iOS is a seriously restricted platform.

You could also argue that the area of attack becomes smaller and that in general this is a good thing. However, personally I'm not concerned with script kiddies that are just trying to have fun on other people's expense, as based on my own usage patterns I could never be infected, because such people do not have the capability of distributing such mallware to me (as I'm only getting software from reliable sources). The threats I'm worried about come from the people with in-house expertise and that are earning money from this activity, as they do have the means for mass distribution and the potential for real damage to your bank account and online identity.

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Re:Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and ... by sandboxed on Monday November 21, 2011 @05:04AM (#3260595)

Maybe its a PR move for Microsoft more than anything. "Windows 8 has a built-in anti-virus and is more secure than ever!"

I feel like Windows gets targeted the most because there are just so many computers running it. If 80% of computers out there ran OSX I wonder if anyone would give a shit about the next vulnerability in Windows.

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Re:Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and ... by bad_user on Monday November 21, 2011 @06:02AM (#3260712)

Ideally no operating system should dominate the market as Windows does. A monoculture is a problem by itself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoculture

However, speaking about Windows, historically has been pretty insecure by default. Microsoft started giving a shit only recently, after the failure that was Windows Vista and the bad press associated with it.

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Re:Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and ... by contextfree on Monday November 21, 2011 @08:00AM (#3260933)

Huh? Security was a focus of Vista, not a reaction to Vista. (It was a reaction to Blaster and other widespread infections from the early XP era)

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Re:Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and ... by bad_user on Monday November 21, 2011 @08:19AM (#3260983)

Pff, if that annoying and totally ineffective UAC dialog is the best they could do in more than 5 years of development, I shudder to think what happens when increased security is not the goal of a release.

And btw, I don't know what you mean by the early XP era, but you're probably referring to a timespan of at least 20 years.

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Re:Windows 8 to have built-in anti-virus - there's good and ... by contextfree on Monday November 21, 2011 @09:36AM (#3261217)

Yeah, I was being sloppy. There was and is malware on Windows for a long time but it only became a widely recognized "epidemic" in the late 90s - early 2000s.

as for Vista ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_and_safety_features_ne...

but the real point is that it's just nonsensical to say that Microsoft has been more focused on security as a reaction to bad press of Vista - whether you like or hate Microsoft or Windows or Vista, there's just no interpretation of the timeline under which that makes any sense.

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