PCs SUCK!

[SLRdude]

One virus after next. Half our work computers were rebooting on their own for hours.
So... I just HAD to make this.
Yeah... that's really me.

[baseballduck]

Yes i have to agree. We have a PC as our desktop. It runs on Windows XP. It's almost brand new and I still wanna throw it out the second story window. I have a Apple laptop(iBook G4) that I use for school. I also use it at home everyday. I'm glad the school made us buy these. I upgraded to Tiger and now its even better. Now that I've used Apple I never want to use Windows again.

Tyler

[padi56]

Well been running windows,since 95 to XP pro in all that time have never
had a single virus touch wood.If you have a good virus checker updated
daily, watch what sites you visit,have a good firewall you should not have any problems.I was just reading this over at B.I.S.S.now this is worrying is
this the big brother stick again

Article QUOTE
The US Government Law Enforcement agencies now insist that all firewalls, software and hardware, allow access to bypass them inbound. The firewall manufacturers are obliged to supply a "key" to this effect. Britain, among other countries, has given in to this request.

The Patriot Act gives the US Government the right to plant "spyware" in anybodies computer. This can be easily checked by reading the new Spyware Act, which specifically exempts the Law Enforcement Agencies from this Law, and specifically for this purpose.

Also, I am led to believe, and have no reason to doubt, that the US Government has a type of spyware that sits on another site, and by means of the "key" can leach information from any computer without actually being resident, and therefore remains undetectable.

If you ask any of the main FW manufacturers if any of this is true, which I have done, they absolutely refuse to reply. No specific denials, just no reply. I was involved, for a short time, with a well known hardware firewall manufacturer, and I was able to get unofficial confirmation of my suspicions.

A thorough reading of the new US Spyware Law, however, shows quite clearly that this ability exists, as it is given total and specific exemption from the law. Windows, and particularly SP2, is created to facilitate investigations by US Law Enforcement Agencies and the main "tool" it provides is Generic Host Process 32 for Windows.

Many Firewalls, and Windows itself, phone home via GHP to the extent that examination of a log reveals they chat continually throughout the duration of any connection. I am told the information they send is filtered by computers looking for key words that will automatically flag the user for further investigation.
I accept that there is a need to police the Internet. However, I also believe in privacy. The new breed of firewall and Windows SP2 do an excellent job of protecting us in the Internet, but who is protecting us from them?

I would like to see some honesty from the firewall manufacturers, and also from Microsoft. My specific questions to Microsoft on GHP have produced pathetic answers. I have addressed the same specific questions to certain FW manufacturers, and they either do not respond or they give very nebulous replies. If I produced a product and somebody questioned its integrity, I would happy make a public statement denying the allegations.

The British police have happily gone along with the US requirements, but as yet the British law doesn't allow the police to "tap" somebody's computer without a Court Order.... so they ask the US agencies to do it for them where they feel they have need. However, they are currently applying to change the law to allow this, and other activities. The application they have submitted clearly states that they want similar abilities to those given in the US Patriot Act. All this can be verified, as laws are in the public domain.

What happens if a law enforcement officer reveals to a friend the methods used?
There are many discussion groups in the Internet who discuss this type of issue. Many of them just love conspiracy theories. However, careful reading of security laws brought out in the last couple of years make it quite clear what the police can do, and what more they want to do.

The key is in Generic Host Process for Windows and to a smaller extent in other similar applications that make connection difficult if not granted the permissions they seek.

GHP and similar applications are not able to be controlled by any other firewall apart from allow or disallow. Outpost gives the ability to control every aspect of how GHP communicates. I like it. I just wish my computer would operate without GHP. I am considering moving to a Linux based OS..I have thoroughly tried out all the firewalls mentioned in the article. I used to use ZAPro, but ceased to do so after careful examination of version 5, which like nearly all commercial firewalls currently available, conforms to the US Patriot Law (you can work the rest out). I was a guru in the ZA Forum, and my knowledge of the product is extensive. Having tried all the other firewalls available, I have migrated to Outpost Pro 2,5. Outpost doesn't seem to conform to the requirements of the Patriot Law.

There were comments about SP2 and all the windows updates. I use them. Be aware that they, too, conform to the Patriot Law requirements. Yes they protect you from Internet threats... but who protects you from them?

Outpost offers the most comprehensive rules based control compared to all the major software firewalls. With knowledge of what you should be protecting yourself against, there is no limit within Outpost to what you can control. It is a truly excellent piece of software. I played with it for some months, and waited for 2,5 before migrating. As long as Outpost retains its total independence in the face of US pressure on firewall manufacturers I will continue to use it.

[Rockrolex]

I have to agree with Padi. I've been running Win3.0 through XP since around 1990. We currently use XP on about 300 office machines. We have so many firewalls, a microbe couldn't get through to our servers.

I have 4 personal computers (2 laptops and 2 desktops) all running XP and only once did I encounter a virus problem. I keep all my personal machines current with Norton Internet Security, which automatically updates. I prefer Windows because you can "see what's under the hood" whereas with the Mac OS, the ordinary user can't go below the surface to tweak things.

[padi56]

That article about firewalls and US Government Law Enforcement agencies
Patriot Act is a real liberty IMO.Well myself have not upgraded to SP2,glad I
didn't

[Earl]

so instead of uncle putting something in my personal, bought and paid for, taxes paid on it to uncle, computer why isn't uncle going to all the isp's and putting this filter in their mainframes and leave my computer alone?

[dman]

LOL Chip!! That is great!!