The Look of Things To Come

How? They are simply taking advantage of exploits in the operating system. What is needed is Microsoft to address them as quickly as possible, which they normally do. Next problem, if you want to go on the internet and send and receive data, there will always be exploits of this. This will happen with any operating system regardless of the Linux communities constant claim that they are more secure. The only real security is to disconnect your internet connection. None of us are doing that I guess its possible we could drop all the blame on Java or ActiveX, but if there was a competing product as good, it again would always have holes.

Interestingly, you put browser hijacks to the front. Locking your home page is fairly easy to do, though your correct that toolbars and the like are a bit more difficult. Programs like SpyWareBlaster do a good job of blocking many of these before you go there.

No more so then email. I saw a petition to do this (make it illegal to have more then 2 popunders per page) and left a comment as well as emailed the author, who naturally never emailed back because I think he forgot that there are other countries besides the USA. Lots of them. And there will always be countries who will not play along. I can buy a server anywhere in the world and run all the pops I want on you. Obviously this also applies to people who hijack browsers or any other malware you can think of.

In closing, allow me to toss out another thought. Be very careful asking for laws. Is the internet a pain sometimes? Sure. But note the internet addresses these problems themselves. Government intervention has not been required and is not needed. What you will get is new taxes and an internet run by people so stupid they claim to have invented it, cant check their own email and dont know a hard drive from a floppy disk. Scary, scary stuff. The internet has policed itself fine thusfar, do not ever let your friendly government take it over. It will be destroyed, as everything they run eventually is.

 

As an update I went a read that petition again. Another 100+ signatures with brilliant comments like I HATE POPUPS AND LOVE FREE PORN. Well, not really but even stupider. These same lazy people would rather let the government legislate then type popup blocking in Google or Yahoo. I hope they like government cheese. Sigh.