Re: i bought a walmart cheapie

[The Ghost In The Machine]

[Followups set to comp.os.linux.advocacy.]
In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Diogenes
<diogenes@sinope.org.net.com>
 wrote
on Fri, 02 Jul 2004 15:36:02 GMT
<056ee72de59a8aac7519b296a4ae93fa@news.teranews.com>:
> Ivan Marsh wrote:
>> On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 13:45:04 +0000, nobod wrote:
>>
>>> Even Outlook and IE are perfectly safe on a properly admined system.
>>
>> Properly admined system: locked in closet, turned off.
>
> Just because /YOU/ don't know how ("linux makes you stupid") doesn't mean it
> can't be done.
>

I'm not sure what the problem constraints are, but it's easy enough
to secure OE, to a point.

[1] Buy a firewall box.  This firewall box is readily available.
[2] Buy firewall software subscription.  Presumably this goes
on the firewall box.
[3] Disable various settings (I'd have to look) on *IE*.  This
should take care of most scripting issues.
[4] Lock down the user accounts.
[5] Make sure all Windows boxes are properly patched and that
one's Windows subscription is up-to-date.
[6] Don't click on unknown attachments.  (This is a training issue.)

Since the original problem was so broadly specified (does one
have additional $ for firewall hardware, training, or software?)
this counts as a solution, although it's imperfect and rather ugly,
in my opinion.  There are also some issues regarding patches.

In Linux, [5] takes care of most of the issues.  [4]
is more or less by default, [3] and [6] are generally
non-issues, and [1] and [2] are therefore unnecessary on
small networks (large networks with Windows components
may require firewalls as a first defense stage, and
Unix and Linux server boxes can get hacked under sloppy
administration -- [4]).

This does not mean Linux is automatically cheaper,
of course -- but it's clear that [1] and [2] invoke
substantial additional cost to a small business.

-- 
#191, ewill3@earthlink.net
It's still legal to go .sigless.