Get her Windows 7 and have her run as Standard User. She won't be able to install anything difficult to remove anymore.
If she needs admin privileges then she needs them on Linux too. Maybe people aren't writing such malware for Linux but they could. Given that, what could Microsoft do? One answer could be whitelisting; it's becoming a reasonable solution in managed networks, but for consumers it's not clear who manages the list. Larry Seltzer Contributing Editor, PC Magazine larry_selt...@ziffdavis.com http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/ -----Original Message----- From: funsec-boun...@linuxbox.org [mailto:funsec-boun...@linuxbox.org] On Behalf Of Drsolly Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:12 AM To: funsec@linuxbox.org Subject: [funsec] Family tech support Daughter.1 has picked up a nasty, that wants her to pay for an antivirus, and keeps nagging at her. She already had Norton, but that doesn't seem to want to know. I don't know if she's updated it - probably not. I didn't fancy wrestling with the malware to try to remove it, or go back to some previous checkpoint (there probably isn't one). I offered her two solutions. 1) reinstall XP. She doesn't have the CDs (I don't think they came with the computer). I suspect you can't buy XP now. Vista will cost her about a hundred pounds, and then she'll need to buy a new word processor, I'd guess. Probably another hundred or two. I suspect that a new laptop would be cheaper. I remember when we used to wonder if a virus could actually destroy the hardware. Well, you don't need to when it's cheaper to buy a new computer than to get rid of the virus. 2) I install Linux. Zero cost, and she most likely won't ever see another malware. It's a no-brainer, really. Do the folks at MS realise what this is doing to them? _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list. _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.