Sasser? What's that then?

12:02.07 - Wednesday 5th May 2004 (Link to This Entry)

Oh come on - even the most clueless of Windows users can't have failed to notice these 'Internet Worm' thingies that crop up in their email and on just about every news site going, yet the Sasser worm appeared suddenly in headlines all over the Internet - another Windows worm using a vulnerability for which a patch already exists.

Though it sounds a bit OTT, I think people should be 'licensed' to use a computer these days. A series of classes, maybe a fortnight's worth of night-school, with an exam at the end of it should be more than enough. It should cover:

Password Security
Virus and Worm Recognition and Handling
Operating System Patching and Security
Firewall and Port Security

The exam would take the form of a set of scenarios ("you receive the following message in your email, what should you do?") and the user would be expected to demonstrate common sense in each one before being 'passed'.

Heck, maybe legislation could be passed forcing ISPs to insist on a licence number before granting service and allowing you to connect your machine to their network. It could be made a requirement for Broadband Access, seeing as those machines are online at the same IP for longer, and can do more damage with their extra upstream.

Thankfully my message is getting through amongst my small circle of contacts. I have not had a single phone call regarding Sasser, or indeed any other virus, for a good month now, and that includes some fairly ordinary people, too. It looks like my days of scrubbing virus-infected machines may be coming to an end.

Comments on this entry:

I've been saying there should've been a sort of Rites of Passage since the Amiga days! No-one ever listens to me!
Ignore Me

Sasser isn't an email virus, MS innovation means it's a 'direct-from-the-net' port probing job.
Proud Bill

What? Only one reply to this topic? (Arf!) I thought it was a weiner!
D

Tax Time!

17:49.31 - Wednesday 5th May 2004 (Link to This Entry)

It's that time of the year again - time to dig out the calculator (Start->Run->'calc') and see how much the Inland Revenue wants from me. This year should be a little less complicated than last year as I really do think I know what I'm doing. By my reckoning I should be getting a refund of £15-£20.