Centerfield

Maybe it isn't because she linked to the cartoons. Maybe they don't like her defense of internment for middle-easterns based only on their region of origin.

Strong prosecution of cyber-thugs? HA! There is a better chance of Cheney stepping down. The nets design makes such things impossible to stop. I can assure you that at least half of the systems being used to DOS the sites are in the US. Most of them are going to coming from compromised Windows systems that the owners never apply security patches or have no anti-virus protection.

I have been dealing, on the technical side, with systems that get DOS'ed all the time. I even know who is doing it. There is no way to prosecute these people, even though they are in the US. The net was designed to be open, not secure. Therefore, it will be impossible to prevent these problems. Anyone who thinks the internet should be a primary mission critical medium has no understanding of how fragile it is.

The only way to have cyber security is to have a private network and not be connected to the net. Unless, we make it against the law to run unpatched computers and hold software companies liable for their secuity holes. I certainly can't see that happening.

Well, Scott, they never really shut her site down before now, and the only thing she's been talking about of late is the cartoons. So my money is on the cartoons being what set them off.

Most of them are going to coming from compromised Windows systems that the owners never apply security patches or have no anti-virus protection.

Yep. Folks who don't firewall and AV well turn into servers without even knowing it. About half my spam mails come from folks who have no idea they're even sending them. They got hit by a virus and co-opted.

Prosecute?
Heck, I'd give it a 50/50 chance that it's a state sponsored program.
The Chinese are good at this trick. "Indepenent" hackers pursue attacks and intrusions then turn any information they obtain over to their government.

I've been making the argument for years that no system should be physically hooked to the internet unless it explicitly needs access for business purposes. So far the suggestion has gone over like a lead balloon.

This is sort of off topic, but what do you guys think would have been done had Dubai already been operating at our ports before 9/11? Would anyone have suggested throwing them out in that case once 9/11 occurred?

The more connected the world gets, the more things like this are likely to happen. Clearly, one of the things we need to worry about is cyerwarfare-this just might be a foretaste.

By the way, talking about firewall and antivirus, I have Norton systems from 4 or 5 years ago. I tried to upgrade to Mcafee and had to disinstall because it slowed the computer too much. I now have the original Norton stuff back on--am I in serious danger if I don't upgrade? I certainly don't want to help terrorist hackers.

Yep, if you haven't kept that Norton upgraded and updated you're certainly somewhat "open," Marc. I understand about the MacAfee and Norton. I've seen computers running at half-speed because of the system resources they can eat. Annoying as hell.

If you don't want to spend the money to go full-scale commercial, there's some freeware available (free for home use only) that's quite good, and doesn't eat up that system overhead. AVG from Grisoft is a good basic AV program with automatic updating, and ZoneAlarm Free is a good basic firewall.

For spyware protection I'm partial to a combo of SpyBot and AdAware, both also free for home suers. If you're running XP, the included firwall sure beats running bare, and the MS Spyware blocker isn't useless.

I should clarify that I characterized my off-topic comment as only "sort of" off-topic because Malkin had an anti-Dubai-deal post yesterday. Carry on.

"...am I in serious danger if I don't upgrade? I certainly don't want to help terrorist hackers."

If you don't upgrade, then the terrorists have already won. Only liberals don't upgrade.

Seriously, get a grip.
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"I've been making the argument for years that no system should be physically hooked to the internet unless it explicitly needs access for business purposes."

Great argument. Who needs the internet or all the business and prosperity that it has brought the country? Seriously, we need to go back to the good ol' days of Prodigy with Gopher and maybe, if you're lucky, FTP.
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"There is no way to prosecute these people, even though they are in the US."

There are ways to prosecute but two things first: 1) you have to be immportant enough to warrant an investigation e.g. US Gov't, large companies, schools, research, etc. (sorry Michelle, back of the line) and 2)acutal malicious intent must be shown, which is difficult to prove.

Pragmatically speaking, it'd be a large undertaking of manpower, resources and money to investigate and prosecute every DOS case.

Look at your firewall settings in control panel. Then look at exceptions. See what ports are open, and close the ones you don't need.

Tip: If you don't know what port 25 is, close it.

thanks for the tips. Hopefully, people recognized my last comment as being facetious. But I did need help with the protection.

you have to be immportant enough to warrant an investigation e.g. US Gov't, large companies, schools, research, etc. (sorry Michelle, back of the line)

That was indirectly my point. Unless you are a major corporation or a key government site, the FBI is just going to give you lip service. They may get back to you if there is a link to something bigger. Once they do act, and I have seen it, they act with great vigor. Just getting the FBI to act requires something big. A blog is not going to get beyond a report filing.

I wonder what exactly she expected, seems to me that getting DOSed is one of the least bad outcomes she might face.

Didn't she know that terrorists kill people for a lot less?

And when fanatical Muslims do things like that, Rick, we oppose it, not just accept it. And we don't (or shouldn't) keep our mouths shut just because some fanatic may shoot us over it. Giving in to bullies only begets more bullies.

Surely you're not saying she deserves to be silenced, by force, for speaking her mind? She had it coming to her?

And we don't (or shouldn't) keep our mouths shut just because some fanatic may shoot us over it.

Some of us shoot back.

The key to AV software is not neccesarly how new the software is but HOW OFTEN YOU UPDATE THE VIRUS DEFINITION FILES. AV software that is 5 years old is perfectly servicable as long as your AV company is maintaining upto date virus definition files and YOU ARE DOWNLOADING THE VIRUS DEFINITION files on a regular basis.

All AV software sold today has the capability to automaticaly download new virus definition files when it is connected to the internet. Most of that software has a setting somewhere within it's controls that allows you to tell it how often and when to perform these downloads. A good rule of thumb is set it to update these files every single day.

This is IMPORTANT because if you go out thinking that all you do to protect youself is to buy a brand new copy of some AV software and install it... you are in for a rude surprise. The virus definition files that ship with AV software are ALREADY OUTDATED BY THE TIME THE PRODUCT HITS THE SHELVES. You need to have this software update it's files on a regular basis in order to enjoy any protection.

Also be aware that AV software protects against only a very limited vector of attacks. You really need to combine this with a personal firewall (The ZoneAlarm product that Tully reccomends is a very decent product.....I like it enough that I'd reccomend purchasing the full retail version).

Some other tips..... in regards Rob's tip about PORT 25..... PORT 25 is the standard port for SMTP (That's E-MAIL to you non-techies) so be carefull about disabling .....and if you do and you discover your e-mail is no longer working...you'll know why. (Also SMTP is used for some functions in Windows home networking). It's true that some virus writers write thier own SMTP clients to propogate thier viruses and that these can utilize port 25 ....but they are only a small fraction of the malicious stuff out there.

Here are 3 tips that will elimate a good 75% of the vulnerabilities that people most commonly run into:

1) Unplug your computer from your cable modem when you aren't using it or have no need to connect to the internet (No physical access is the best security you can find - bar none).

2) Set you're e-mail client to read e-mail in PLAIN TEXT only. You won't see all those fancy graphics on e-mails..... but you'll eliminate alot of the vulnerabilities that get propagated by them.

3) Set your web-browser to PROMPT you before running ACTIVEX controls or SCRIPTS. Lots of websites use these things to support additional functionality (including centerfield, I think) so don't be affraid to say YES to these prompts if they appear on a site you know and trust.... and if all that clicking gets too burdensome some browsers (like IE) allow you to add sites to a "Trusted Zone" which automaticaly impliments less rigerous security standards. These sort of controls are the number 1 way that malicious sites will utilize to compromise computers that visit them..... simply having the power to answer "NO" to allowing these controls on sites you don't trust will prevent most of these exploits.....including mitigating alot of the security vulnerabilities that exist in even unpatched versions of Windows.

Safe computing.....and remember....like anything else, common sense is the best defence.

What he said.

I paid for the full versions of both AVG and ZoneAlarm because I've used the heck out of them. AVG updates every day on all computers. My home net runs through a router (firewalled), we have five computers on the home net, two kids online, email is text only, and we haven't had a successful virus hit since I set it up, although we get a shielded-out attempt every few days. I've never counted how many port intrusion attempts, but "lots."

In cleaning up slow-running computers for friends and relatives, my top count so far was 28 seperate viruses and over two hundred bits of spyware, not counting cookies. On one computer. Teenage girl's, unmonitored. (My own kids must use the computers in our sight to access the internet.) A year after I shielded that one, I came back and found one lonely bit of spyware that slipped by.

Until you've cleaned out one or two of those you really don't appreciate what evil can lurk on your hard drive.

"Muslim fanatics on the other side of the globe are now reaching across the ocean to electronically stifle our freedom of speech."

What's the matter with you? You forgot to take your anti-paranoia medication?

For all you know, twit, the cyber attack could come from anywhere in the States.

What a moronic post!

The DOS attack on Malkin's site is coming from turktelecom. That's "turk" as in "Turkey."

And followed on the heels of a Malkin post describing an international cyber-attack against many web sites which hosted the cartoons.

The day Malkin can offer a coherent explanation of why it is desirable to publish inflammatory cartoons that are sure to infuriate Muslims while it is not desirable to publish inflammatory photographs of Arabs being tortured by U.S. personnel, that are also sure to infuriate Muslims, I'll have some sympathy for her.

In the meantime, she can take her one-sided "free speech" stance and shove it. To hell with her and her radical right-wing drivel.

Devil's Advocate,

Why is it paranoia to assume that the source of the attacks would be the countries where the outrage is occurring? Maybe you are right, they are coming from here, but I fail to see the logic in assuming that. Doesn't it seem more logical to think they are coming from there. What is the motivation for those attacks to come from here?

And why the need to call names?. Does that make you feel better? You are just trying to show that you are more "tolerant" and that the rest of us are just racists.

Of course, you are racists. That's why I call you names. Racism is evil.

He's demonstrating that he can't even remember his own labels, and thus must stick to random pejorative assignments for everyone else.

Right, Tully!

I guess you are one of those ignorant, unthinking, right-wingers, who believes that all Muslims are evil and should therefore be destroyed.

I bet your slogan is " The Only Good Muslim is a Dead Muslim".

You have bought this administration's sap hook, line, and sinker. You will eventually choke on it, just like the rest of us who did not buy the package as they were unwilling participants but had no choice in the matter since our "employees" decided that they were actually running the company.

So, thank you for your participation in ruining our democracy and our reputation worldwide. You have done a "heck of a job".

A real "Devil's Advocate" argues against the conventional wisdom. The person who uses that title here just serves up the knee-jerk reflex mentation of the Politically Correct robots.

How is it that Muslims can be "inflamed" by relatively harmless cartoons published months ago in an obscure newspaper in a tiny country in the corner of Europe, whereas Christians are supposed to grin and bear it when their religion is for all practical purposes outlawed in many Muslim countries, and mocked in every conceivable way in their own?

Our Lefties, having seen their Third World Guerilla heroes disappear, must make do with apologizing for reactionary religious bigots who would kill them in a second if they could.

So far has the Left fallen!

Doug

Oooohh... he said "heck of a job". Get it? Huh? Huh? See, he's made a reference to President Bush talking to Michael Brown right after Hurricane Katrina. Wow. He must be right, huh? I cower in the shadow of his towering intellect.

Don't worry, "Evil Progressive"/"Devil's Advocate"... the rest of us will do our best to keep the Islamic Extremists from killing you, too, no matter what you say about us. You do realize that the ones actually rioting and killing people over cartoons are Muslims, don't you? Do you understand that it is possible to oppose the Muslims who would do such things without harboring ill will toward the many, many more Muslims who do not do such things? Do you understand that Muslims in this country, even in "George Bush's Amerika", are free to practice their religion, while Christians in most Muslim nations can be arrested for practicing their faith in public, and sometimes even in private? That in some areas, they stone homosexuals, or women who have had sex with someone she's not married to?

while Christians in most Muslim nations can be arrested for practicing their faith in public, and sometimes even in private?

Though not in Dubai, where there are numerous Xian churches, and more being built. They don't allow public proselytizing or passing out non-Islamic religious literature in public, but they don't persecute or ban the churches. Indeed, the land for the Xian churches in Dubai was donated by the Emir. As was the land for the Buddhist and Hindu temples.

Strangely, there have been no riots in Dubai.