By Rob Pegoraro
The Washington Post
Sunday, August 24, 2003; Page F07
Between the Blaster worm and the Sobig virus, it's been a long two weeks
for Windows users. But nobody with a Mac or a Linux PC has had to lose a
moment of sleep over these outbreaks -- just like in earlier "malware"
epidemics.
This is not a coincidence.
The usual theory has been that Windows gets all the attacks because
almost everybody uses it. But millions of people do use Mac OS X and
Linux, a sufficiently big market for plenty of legitimate software
developers -- so why do the authors of viruses and worms rarely take aim
at either system?
Even if that changed, Windows would still be an easier target. In its
default setup, Windows XP on the Internet amounts to a car parked in a
bad part of town, with the doors unlocked, the key in the ignition and a
Post-It note on the dashboard saying, "Please don't steal this."
Not opening strange e-mail attachments helps to keep Windows secure (not
to mention it's plain common sense), but it isn't enough.
The vulnerabilities built in: Security starts with closing doors that
don't need to be open. On a PC, these doors are called "ports" --
channels to the Internet reserved for specific tasks, such as publishing
a Web page.
These ports are what network worms like Blaster crawl in through,
exploiting bugs in an operating system to implant themselves. (Viruses
can't move on their own and need other mechanisms, such as e-mail or
floppy disks, to spread.) It's canonical among security experts that
unneeded ports should be closed.
Windows XP Home Edition, however, ships with five ports open, behind
which run "services" that serve no purpose except on a computer network.
"Messenger Service," for instance, is designed to listen for alerts sent
out by a network's owner, but on a home computer all it does is receive
ads broadcast by spammers. The "Remote Procedure Call" feature exploited
by Blaster is, to quote a Microsoft advisory, "not intended to be used
in hostile environments such as the Internet."
Jeff Jones, Microsoft's senior director for "trustworthy computing,"
said the company was heeding user requests when XP was designed: "What
customers were demanding was network compatibility, application
compatibility."
But they weren't asking for easily cracked PCs either. Now, Jones said,
Microsoft believes it's better to leave ports shut until users open the
ones they need. But any change to this dangerous default configuration
will only come in some future update.
In comparison, Mac OS X ships with zero ports open to the Internet.
The firewall that's down: A firewall provides further defense against
worms, rejecting dangerous Internet traffic.
Windows XP includes basic firewall software (it doesn't monitor outgoing
connections), but it's inactive unless you use its "wizard" software to
set up a broadband connection. Turning it on is a five-step task in
Microsoft's directions (www.microsoft.com/protect) that must be repeated
for every Internet connection on a PC.
Mac OS X's firewall isn't enabled by default either, but it's much
simpler to enable. Red Hat Linux is better yet: Its firewall is on from
the start.
The patches that aren't downloaded: Windows is better than most
operating systems at easing the drudgery of staying on top of patches
and bug fixes, since it can automatically download them. A PC kept
current with Microsoft's security updates would have survived this week
unscathed.
But hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Windows systems still got
Blasted, even though the patch to stop this worm was released weeks ago.
Part of this is users' fault. "Critical updates" are called that for a
reason, and it's foolish to ignore them. (The same goes for not
installing and updating anti-virus software.)
The chance of a patch wrecking Windows is dwarfed by the odds that an
unpatched PC will get hit. And for those saying they don't trust
Microsoft to fix their systems, I have one question: If you don't trust
this company, why did you give it your money?
Microsoft, however, must share blame, too. Windows XP's pop-up
invitations to use Windows Update must compete for attention with all of
XP's other, less important nags -- get a Passport account, take a tour
of XP, hide unused desktop icons, blah, blah, blah.
Microsoft's critical updates also are absent from retail copies of
Windows XP, forcing buyers into lengthy Windows Update sessions to get
the fixes since last year's Service Pack 1 upgrade. At least the version
of XP provided to PC manufacturers is refreshed once a quarter or so --
and Microsoft says it's working to shorten this lag.
The lack of any limit to damage: Windows XP, by default, provides
unrestricted, "administrator" access to a computer. This sounds like a
good thing but is not, because any program, worms and viruses included,
also has unrestricted access.
Yet administrator mode is the only realistic choice: XP Home's "limited
account," the only other option, doesn't even let you adjust a PC's
clock.
Mac OS X and Linux get this right: Users get broad rights, but critical
system tasks require entering a password. If, for instance, a virus
wants to install a "backdoor" for further intrusions, you'll have to
authorize it. This fail-safe isn't immune to user gullibility and still
allows the total loss or theft of your data, but it beats Windows'
anything-goes approach.
Because Microsoft blew off security concerns for so long, millions of
PCs remain unpatched, ready for the next Windows-transmitted disease.
Microsoft needs to do more than order up another round of "Protect Your
PC" ads.
Here's a modest proposal: Microsoft should use some of its $49 billion
hoard to mail an update CD to anybody who wants one. At $3 a pop (a
liberal estimate), it could ship a disc to every human being on Earth --
and still have $30 billion in the bank.
Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at
rob@twp.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked
Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages
posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Fri Aug 01 2014 - 19:04:41 EDT