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Posted by Daniel Petri on July 17, 2008, 7:56 am
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Just like Steve Riley said, I strongly suggest you re-think your security
concepts Dan. Sitting behind my desk and reading your post about how your
school network was hacked all I can think of is that someone should have
done a better job in protecting their network. How can you even begin to
compare the strength of a properly-configured (I emphasize
"propery-configured"!!!) Windows XP/Vista machine with ANY Windows 9X
machine, when related to security??? Saying that 9X is better just because
someone hacked into a poorly-protected and wrongfully-configured network is
like claiming that a VW Beatle is far better than a modern car because
modern cars use computers to control almost any aspect of their engine and
behavior, therefore if someone hacks into that computer, all modern cars
will stop working. Right. Let's all just use MS-DOS because you "like to
play DOS games"... Sorry. Posting long answers doesn't qualify them as
correct.
--
Sincerely,
Daniel Petri
MVP, Senior IT consultant, trainer
www.petri.co.il
>
>
> "Daniel Petri <MVP>" wrote:
>
>> So, to make a long story short, you claim the the "Windows 9X" source
>> code
>> and entire OS is far more secure than today's "Windows NT" - i.e. Vista?
>>
>> --
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Daniel Petri
>> MVP, Senior IT consultant, trainer
>> www.petri.co.il
>
> The NT source code has much more security. The external security of
> Windows
> Vista is especially good. The internal safety and core of 9x is safer
> than
> the core of NT being based upon MS-DOS which is the maintenance operating
> system of 98 Second Edition. What maintenance operating system does Vista
> have? Please see Chris Quirke, MVP website.
>
> http://cquirke.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!C7DAB1E724AB8C23!336.entry
>
> I am talking about the debate that Chris Quirke, MVP talks about the
> safety
> and security comparison. The best example I can give is to think of a
> major
> fortress with great fortifications that is extremely hard to break
> through.
> This major fortress represents the Windows NT source code and is
> especially
> good right now in Windows Vista Service Pack 1 which I am using right now
> and
> writing this post from Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Heck, I would not
> have
> been a volunteer tester for Windows Vista on security if I did not like
> Microsoft products and did not feel Windows NT was secure. For mobile
> technology such as laptops I would highly suggest Windows Vista over any
> other Windows when a person is traveling. However, with the proper
> safeguards Windows 98 Second Edition can be made fairly secure if a user
> is
> connected by a wired router to the Internet with anti-spyware programs
> such
> as Spybot Search and Destroy and SpywareBlaster and using a currently
> supported browser in 98 SE such as Mozilla Firefox which is currently
> supported 98SE at least until December 2008 with Mozilla Firefox 2.
>
> The problem here is that the Windows NT source code that includes Windows
> 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista is meant to be managed by the IT
> Professional and not by individual users. This is usually great in an
> office
> environment that needs to limit the user's rights and grant usually the
> majority of users a standard account and a few limited users an
> administrator
> account. However, for home users such as when I am at home and not at
> work,
> I like Windows 98 Second Edition because I enjoy playing older DOS games
> and
> using older DOS programs that will not run in XP or Vista. In addition,
> if
> someone does manage to break through all the external security of XP (not
> sure about Vista since it is so new and indeed more secure than XP) then
> the
> hacker(s) can wreck havoc on the network. This is what happened at my old
> workplace when I went away on vacation during the summer and the
> higher-ups
> decided it was time to get rid of Windows 98 Second Edition for good and
> only
> have Windows XP Professional computers at my workplace.
>
> Apparently, during the summer someone hacked the network and whether it
> was
> an inside job (which I now suspect) or an outside job the individual(s)
> knew
> their stuff really well. They undid all my work that took me a full year
> to
> implement and bring the workplace from really bad computer problems to a
> well
> functioning network and undid it in a matter of 3 months while I was gone.
> If you have not figured it out yet, it was indeed a school that according
> to
> the main computer network administrator Stephanie she said that former
> individual(s) had left the school prior and destroyed the computer network
> because these individual(s) were mad at the school and took their
> vengeance
> on the computer network since they did not want to physically hurt the
> children but it certainly hurt the children's ability to learn which
> really
> makes me annoyed. Perhaps these individual(s) still had some prior access
> that had not been revoked and were able to wreck havoc on the network
> during
> the summer and it seems like they may have had to get on site and what
> better
> opportunity while the main computer guy was out of the city.
>
> However, if the few Windows 98 Second Edition machines had not been phased
> out that summer then I would have been able to lean back upon those
> machines
> since they were not accessible via the general school network and indeed
> did
> not rely upon remote access which can be problematic when turned on as it
> was
> with Windows XP Professional and with the Public School Network. I am
> deliberately being vague about the specifics because this may end up being
> a
> legal issue. In addition, Chris Quirke, MVP talks about the problem that
> Windows Vista has because it lacks a true maintenance operating system
> like
> MS-DOS in 98 Second Edition which had easy access to MS-DOS and good
> backwards compatibility which Windows ME lacked. Windows ME looked good
> and
> worked okay and did have better general USB support than 98SE but it
> really
> was a joke and crippled operating system in my opinion since it lacked so
> much and broke so easily. Finally, this proves the importance of the 9x
> source code for the safety such as using one 98 Second Edition computer
> for
> backup of the workplace that only one trusted individual who has been with
> the company for many years is allowed to access. I have heard from my
> friend
> John about how some businesses in New York State have used a 98 Second
> Edition machine in the past as a gateway to the computer network which
> sounds
> like a really smart idea. Windows 98 Second Edition also allowed
> consumers
> who want to play old games to play the older games and individuals like
> myself to work in a true text based interface and do away with the
> limitations of a GUI interface. Just my two cents for what it is worth.
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