[Veering further off-topic]
Hmm...I didn't even know XP had a built-in firewall. Any bets on how long it is before other companies with software firewall products bring suit against Microsoft for bundling a firewall in the OS?
Along the vein of "I dislike Microsoft, but let's get over it" - when some Linux started out with, what, ipchains/ip-something to protect it from network vulnerabilities, it took our little lab's folks some time to remember to punch holes in it for DNS, SSH, etc. each time we set a new one up. Ah, live and learn.
The legacy of shipping machines open to attack predates Microsoft, it isn't "their fault(tm)". This issue was raised in at least as far back as "The Cuckoo's Egg" (since I've met folks that don't remember it, by Clifford Stoll - very entertaining tale of an astronomer-turned-SA tracking a hacker). In the epilogue, he mentions the Morris worm, so we're talking about incidents in '87 or so. (The Morris thing was what, Nov 2, 1988? Give or take a week.) I highly recommend that book as part suspense novel and part security tutorial.
Every time a vendor/open-sourcer decides to stop shipping with security down, there's a learning curve forced on the buyers. But that's why we get paid to work in air conditioned offices in the summer. ;)
-- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Edward Lewis +1-703-227-9854 ARIN Research Engineer
Sponge Bob Square Pants? I'm still trying to figure out the Macarena.