Misunderstanding Security

At will soon have a security model that will be very Unix-like, so I guess Bill and the boys didn't understand this. More seriously, Thom misunderstands that malware simply interested in deleting files is rather rare today, and even if that is part of the payload, the first action is more likely to try to gain administrative control of the system (Unix or Windows). If you are an administrator (or root) and have invited or been tricked into allowing the malware to run, that just makes things easier, and it is that simple fact that has caused the greatest majority of Windows security problems. No doubt Windows will be more secure post-Vista, and no doubt Linux and Mac OS X would be less secure if the user base were larger. I also have no doubt that both Linux and Mac OS X will pay the price of "user friendliness" just as Windows does. Making things mindless for users just helps the bad stuff find a way in. There's a long running thread here entitled "Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web Technorati: A.P. Lawrence provides SCO Unix and Linux consulting services http://www.pcunix.com