Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Windows flaw could turn critical
Here we go again. According to this ZDNet story, hackers have a tendency to reverse engineer Windows patches to create new and more effective worms and viruses.

Aren't we all getting a little tired of this? Is this really an Internet problem? The answers are "Yes" and "No."

Hopefully your shorts get as bunched up as mine when you hear that hacking is an Internet problem. The Internet is not some cohesive entity that has an active role in its existence. This is an ISP problem. At some point, some pimply-faced loser is shipping a virus out through his ISP in an attempt to infect everyone else on the Internet. Why does that ISP not have sufficient controls in place to catch and trap that virus as it leaves? Why don't the ISPs on the receiving end of the virus have those very same facilities? We've been at this Internet thing for at least 13 years now. How long is it going to take to get this right? When I see an ISP who's charging me nearly $50/mo using McAfee AntiVirus to "keep me safe," I just want to puke.

Personally, when they find a hacker they should shut down the ISP he was using. Hopefully, after a short while, the others will get the message.
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