Is It Still Your Computer?

“Software Patching Too Much Trouble For Most
By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
March 5, 2010 02:46 PM

The U.S. government is so flummoxed by the insecurity of computers that it has launched a contest to find someone who can create an effective way to educate people about computer security.

It's clear there's a problem. Recent legal action in Spain and in Virginia against the Mariposa botnet andthe Waledac botnet, two of the ten largest botnets that controlled tens of millions of hijacked computers, offers a reminder of just how many compromised computers are out there. These aren't just personal computers either; many of the infected machines have been found in major corporations and banks.

While education can reduce the number of malware infections by helping users to understand that the joke in e-mail messages with subject lines like "LOL! Check this out!" is on the recipient, in the form of malware, the defensive value of timely patching shouldn't be overlooked.

The problem with patching, unfortunately, is that it's too much trouble for the average user. A research paper by Stefan Frei, research analyst director at Secunia, and Thomas Kristensen, CSO at Secunia, released earlier this week at the RSA Conference, finds that the complexity and frequency of patching software vulnerabilities tends to exceed what users are able and willing to invest.

According to Frei and Kristensen, 50% of users have software from more than 22 different vendors that are affected by at least 75 security advisories issued by Secunia every year.

"Thus, a typical end-user has the daunting task to administer his host approximately 75 times a year (or every 4.8 days), thereby handling approximately 22 different update mechanisms to keep his/her system secure," the paper states.”

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/app_optimization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223101713&cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-03-08_h

Daunting as the task may be, if you don't do the work your computer is a lot more likely to belong to a hacker than belong to you.

Of course, there's a good chance you'll never know it. Until your email account is cancelled for spamming or they arrest you for possessing kiddie porn. Even worse, your bank account might be zeroed, though it's more likely you'll be billed for things you never ordered. So go the work or you will be assimilated. You'll also wish they were the Borg.

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