Comment on How are you using your laptop (with internet) that still runs Windows10?
vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works 2 days agoThis doesn’t effectively increase your risk as a consumer. It only increases risk at the enterprise and infrastructure level.
All threat models include who you are and the environment the OS is run in for a reason. Just browsing the web is fine as a consumer, until browsers stop targeting your OS for updates.
The main vector for infection for any OS isn’t the OS itself. Malware doesn’t just spawn on your computer the second you plug it in to a router (no matter what Trump’s FCC thinks with their chinese router ban). It needs to get on your computer.
An up to date browser will prevent the majority of infections, with common sense preventing the rest. I kept Windows XP well into windows 7 years, and windows 7 well into windows 10 years before switching to linux. Just don’t download malware, you’ll be fine. Worst case scenario you keep a backup clone of your hard drive on a usb stick (which you should have anyway) and just reflash your drive every few months (or just switch to linux, it can do anything windows can do at this point with enough faffing about.)
sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
You could download a Trojan that takes advantage of a known vulnerability.
It is part of the swiss cheese model.
Your browser could have a vulnerable plugin, or maybe the user delays updates.
I bought a USB drive off a sketchy guy in college which had auto-run Malware on it – but it didn’t work on Ubuntu.
Not a good idea to use an unpatched OS.
vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Just… don’t do that?
This is part of Common Sense™. It’s a package that every single human being in a developed country is taught in regards to technology, and has been taught since the 1990s. (2000s for developing countries like the US).
Every single person that interacts with a computer in a professional setting has been taught explicitly how to never have a single virus on their computer. And they have been repeatedly taught this every 6 to 12 months for the last 3 decades. It is only people that purposefully infect themselves or purposefully choose to remain stupid — not ignorant, just stupid — that get infected with Trojans.
See above, and the previous comment.
See above. You did not use common sense™. You chose to be stupid, despite your college freshman orientation clearly covering basic safety.
JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Kinda. For people like you and me, sure this sense is common. How many normies do you know that have your level of technical paranoia?
Here’s an outlier example: I recently bought a carded, new micro SD card from the local brick and mortar because urgent reasons that don’t matter for this story. I went to load up the card, and its capacity was only 8MB, rather than 256GB. More than that, it was also loaded with 3 different auto-run malware. I was prepared for something like this (well, not the inconvenience of a counterfeit card). How many here are genuinely prepared to deal with brand new card that came from a trusted retailer with malware? Do YOU genuinely expect malware in this context?
I think a little empathy and education can go much further than “I’m smarter, just git gud.”
sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Good luck out there
vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Sec+ holder, I’ll be fine. So will anyone with any amount of common sense.
Don’t download strange executables. Use trusted sites. keep your browser up to date and run an effective adblock.
Congrats you’ve eliminated 99.9% of all attack vectors in use today. I guarantee you aren’t going to be targeted by the last .1%.