Today I was on my Windows 7 machine when I noticed 10 windows updates waiting to be downloaded. While downloading the updates I started reading through some of them..
Published: October 12, 2010Vulnerability in Media Player Network Sharing Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2281679)
.. and it got me thinking, if these sort of vulnerabilities pop up all the time then shouldn't we be disabling windows services which we aren't using? It was just a month ago where my computer got hijacked and I had to format my computer. I don't want this happening again.
There's obviously people which know of the exploit years before Microsoft patches it. Can we not just disable all the network services we don't use? Or am I being a little too sketchy?
Yes, you should - it's one of the first things I do when I do a new install. In addition to being more secure you'll also have more free memory and your computer will run that little bit faster.
Just remember to turn them back on when you need them :)
Quote:Original post by stevenmarky Yes, you should - it's one of the first things I do when I do a new install. In addition to being more secure you'll also have more free memory and your computer will run that little bit faster.
Just remember to turn them back on when you need them :)
Lots of things were turned off by default on my W7 machine. The problem here is your average user has never heard of a "service" and would have no idea how to turn it on, they're likely to do as much damage as a virus!
It's an interesting point though, guess it does make sense. However are these vulnerabilities 'open' to the web or reliant on other mistakes like firewall not being on, etc?
Quote:Original post by JDX_John Lots of things were turned off by default on my W7 machine. The problem here is your average user has never heard of a "service" and would have no idea how to turn it on, they're likely to do as much damage as a virus!
It's an interesting point though, guess it does make sense. However are these vulnerabilities 'open' to the web or reliant on other mistakes like firewall not being on, etc?
Something like that could easily be handled by a simple interface that can toggle between "Question View" and "Service View".
In question view you are presented with a long list of questions about how you use your machine.
"Do you use your computer to connect to a network, access the internet, or use the world wide web?" Yes/No/I Don't Know and Need More Information.
A long series of questions like that for all services the user could want to turn on or off. Give the other view of a list of services, and rig up the error messages to inform users about it.
Far too often Microsoft looks at error messages as something for techs to deal with, rather than building a system by which the average user can use to find the information they need and possibly fix the problem themselves. Yes, it would be a huge investment to build the initial system, but keeping it running is likely a whole lot cheaper than manning countless call centers to deal with idiots.
Old Username: Talroth
If your signature on a web forum takes up more space than your average post, then you are doing things wrong.
Quote:
"Do you use your computer to connect to a network, access the internet, or use the world wide web?" Yes/No/I Don't Know and Need More Information.
Um... Why is my Facebook showing jibberish? Why is it broken, Zuckerberg should fix it.
This is difficult or impossible to understand for techies - but majority of users not only do not understand the concept of network, internet or world wide web, computer is an abstract and dated term (those big beige boxes). To them, the monitor is called Facebook. That is what it does. The big thing under the desk. It's like charger for the cell phone, just bigger. All the other bells and whistles on screen - noise. Kinda like channel logo on TV.
People watch Discovery, Survivor, NBA or wrestling, not Television. They read news, weather, comics or classifieds, not newspapers. And go for a trip or commute (what), they don't 'drive a car' (how).
People are without exception only interested into what. Knowing how a device works is completely useless.
Television has a very abstract, standardised interface. Big Red Button:Power on, Numbers/Arrows:Channels, that slope with +/-:Volume
Cars have an abstract standardised interface: Wheel:steer, clutch/knob:change gears, right paddle:accelerate, middle paddle:brake, slam the wheel:honk! =)
The (Windows)computer: Directories, Files, Programs, File-Links, copy, move, delete, recycle, shutdown, install program, install device driver, FAT, NTFS, RAM, Harddisk, Network connection, IP address, etc. etc...
This is simply too much for the average joe to understand! Can you blame them? No. I use electrical devices all the time. Do I care what kind of wire is installed in my house or if the voltage is correct? No, it just works.
I think the problem is that a huge amount of people now have access to a device that has never really evolved from a tool for geeks into an abstract, user-friendly "box". We cannot educate every facebook user about the internals of their computer and we shouldn't have to...
The OS should utilise a much higher level of abstraction for the average user and provide some kind of "expert mode" for the devs but I don't see the market leader - windows - heading in that direction anywhere soon. Even though I'm not an apple fan I must say that their OS is more like that and I guess... sales numbers show...
