[CS-FSLUG] Unprotected PC running Windows XP can be hijacked in minutes

[Fred A. Miller]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-11-29-honeypot_x.htm

"While most break-in tries fail, an unprotected PC can get hijacked within 
minutes of accessing the Internet. Once hijacked, it is likely to get grouped 
with other compromised PCs to dispense spam, conduct denial-of-service 
attacks or carry out identity-theft scams.
.....
Between Sept. 10 to Sept. 25, online intruders made 305,922 attempts to break 
into six computers connected to the Internet via broadband DSL. Attackers 
successfully compromised the Dell Windows XP computer using Service Pack 1 
nine times, and the Dell Windows 2003 Small Business server once. No other 
machines were breached."

Those were break-in attempts, not virus email hijackings, of which the number 
of successful attacks against PCs running Windows is too numerous to count.  
___________

These are just some of hundreds of reasons why I run SUSE Linux.  Crackers, 
Viruses and Trojans don't bother my PC.

Fred

-- 
"As Internet technology itself vaults into new areas, so too does the
Microsoft monopoly and its tried-and-true bag of tricks."
-US Senator Orrin Hatch, (R) Utah