Len Rose <len@netsys.com> wrote:
> I'm a unix person. Maybe that means I am somewhat windows-illiterate,
> but I try hard to overcome this. Here is something I discovered about
> my particular workstation.
>
> http://www.netsys.com/cgi-bin/display_article.cgi?1192
This is why, if you must use Windows, you should only use a
"securable" version (NT/2K/XP) _and_ then you must lock the config
down way tighter than the default.
Further, this is why you should not use IE and should disable as many
of the "whizzy" options in your browser as possible. Give a neophyte
user the option to chose betwen "do it" and "don't do it" and they'll
always pick the "do it" option.
And, they'll always pick that option even if it is bracketed with a
warning like:
This will probably introduce viruses, delete all your crucial
files, sell the soul of your fist born to the devil (or Bill Gates
-- whichever you find more repulsive), impregnate your grandmother
with a goat and steal your credit card details next time you enter
them in a web form.
Continue? Yes No
Why do they always click "Yes"?
Because computers are such singluarly cr*ppy technology that anyone
who has used one for more than ten minutes "knows" that if you turn
off any "default" option or "prevent it from doing something it
wants to" the whole thing almost irreparably goes to sh*t.
Your only protection against such typically human failings is to
prevent typical humans from using your computers (not possible in
this case) or to prevent as many of those opportunities from being
able to present themselves to the failure-prone decision makers (so,
disable as many whizzy browser options as possible, set strict ACLs,
etc, etc).
Regards,
Nick FitzGerald