Comments on: Disable AutoPlay to Protect Your Computer From Malware http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/2009/11/disable-autoplay-to-protect-your-computer-from-malware.html Talking technology, computers, and the Internet... for the average computer user Wed, 02 May 2012 01:27:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Mrs. Mecomber http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/2009/11/disable-autoplay-to-protect-your-computer-from-malware.html/comment-page-1#comment-9087 Mrs. Mecomber Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:04:24 +0000 http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/?p=1494#comment-9087 Right you are! But aren't the Linux and Apple OS's just as vulnerable? I thought the only reason they weren't attacked like MS is because they are not as widespread as MS. Right you are!

But aren’t the Linux and Apple OS’s just as vulnerable? I thought the only reason they weren’t attacked like MS is because they are not as widespread as MS.

]]> By: The Evangelist http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/2009/11/disable-autoplay-to-protect-your-computer-from-malware.html/comment-page-1#comment-9085 The Evangelist Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:13:09 +0000 http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/?p=1494#comment-9085 @Mrs. Mecomber: I can remember seeing something recently about an OEM having a disk image with malware already installed. It's sad that it has to come to this, but it does. The real problem now is that the users that really need to know this information won't find it, and even if they did know they might have trouble if a window didn't pop up immediately when they plug in their drive anyways. We live in a day where every feature of the OS is seen as a possible attack vector. Microsoft needs to work on these problems, or they risk a huge trade-off of either usability or security. @Mrs. Mecomber: I can remember seeing something recently about an OEM having a disk image with malware already installed.

It’s sad that it has to come to this, but it does. The real problem now is that the users that really need to know this information won’t find it, and even if they did know they might have trouble if a window didn’t pop up immediately when they plug in their drive anyways.

We live in a day where every feature of the OS is seen as a possible attack vector. Microsoft needs to work on these problems, or they risk a huge trade-off of either usability or security.

]]> By: Mrs. Mecomber http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/2009/11/disable-autoplay-to-protect-your-computer-from-malware.html/comment-page-1#comment-9072 Mrs. Mecomber Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:42:02 +0000 http://mrsmecombersscrapbook.com/?p=1494#comment-9072 Hi Karen. Well, I was mainly referring to USB drives and disks that are shared amongst people's computers. One computer may have a virus. That virus looks for places to mulitply-- so it finds a cozy home on a USB flash drive. When someone else inserts the USB drive into their computer, the AutoPlay function automatically loads the software on that drive, which installs the virus onto the second computer. But believe it or not, even new drives can have malware installed. There was a news story several years ago about brand new Seagate hard drives-- they were made in China, and someone over there installed malware and spyware on them. So even a brand new computer could possibly have malware and spyware. Hi Karen. Well, I was mainly referring to USB drives and disks that are shared amongst people’s computers. One computer may have a virus. That virus looks for places to mulitply– so it finds a cozy home on a USB flash drive. When someone else inserts the USB drive into their computer, the AutoPlay function automatically loads the software on that drive, which installs the virus onto the second computer.

But believe it or not, even new drives can have malware installed. There was a news story several years ago about brand new Seagate hard drives– they were made in China, and someone over there installed malware and spyware on them. So even a brand new computer could possibly have malware and spyware.

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