Abuse of power - why Windows Security Fails...

Windows has one very nasty habit, that it has kept since the first days of it's creation. It's a habit so deadly, that Windows has never really been able to ditch it (despite several attempts), and rather like a junkie always needing one last desperate fix, Windows defends it's use, and will continue to use it, until the bitter end... I am of course, referring to default administrative rights.

Back in the old days of DOS (that's the operating system before windows - some of us over 40's are quite fond of it), networks existed only in business, and one user / one computer was the norm. In those days, the ideas of multiple users was more for large scale computing, such as big business or Universities. From these hot-beds came the idea of networks, multiple users on one machine, and user rights. In short, a human needed a user account to use a computer, and that account needed access rights to use files/printers/resources - all this, controlled by an Administrator: the one person deemed trustworthy enough to organize these resources on the User's behalf.

Microsoft had already created Windows - not as an Operating System at first, but as a Window Manager - that is, a nice, graphical way to view your files, edit notes etc. Windows was not the first, but it became the most popular, and in the way that popular things do, it created demand. There was now a demand for Windows to have network access to files, printers and resources, but Windows was a single user environment.

Enter "Windows for Workgroups" - Microsoft's answer to the network problem. Windows could now access network files, share network resources, and assign user rights - right? Wrong - Windows could assign network rights to other people / computers, but it was still a single user environment, and that user had FULL Administrator access to the computer. Microsoft got it right with Windows NT however - a version of Windows DESIGNED to be a computer server. It had users, printers, rights... but the USER computers that used it's resources were still running WFW - single user, full Administrative access to their own machine. The users HAD to have Administrative access to install printers, device drivers, anything that was actually useful. This problem would continue for a VERY long time...

In 1995, Microsoft tried again, and released Windows 95. 95 was Windows For WorkGroups with a new front end, as well as some improvements to the back end engine, but it was still essentially the same Windows / DOS combination that WFW was, and it shared the same single user philosophy. Yes, you could have separate user profiles, but each user was still "the Administrator". We also now had "Windows Update" - Microsoft could keep your computers up-t0-date for you, but they could only do it if the user had full access to the machine...

Then came Windows NT4, and NT4 Workstation. These were version of Windows designed for full network use, and actually had true user accounts practice. Now, only the Administrator could make system changes to the machine, and everyone else could be user's of lesser power... except that user's expected to be able to do things the way they were used to. People now had PC's running windows at home, and the "single user" experience was what they were used to. The user's also had to keep the machine up to date with the latest patches, to stop the growing virus threat, so the average user STILL had to have administrative access. Savvy network admins locked down the machines as best they could, but those who didn't know better still allowed the standard user's full Administrator access - is it any wonder that Windows is responsible for more viruses spreading than any other operating system?

In 98, we had Windows 98, and then Windows ME, and once again, Microsoft dropped the ball, allowing the Single User ethos to continue. 2000 brought Windows 2000 / Server 2000 and for the first time, Windows on both Client AND desktop had the notion of access rights. This should have been the turning point for Microsoft - their poor record of virus spreading and compromised security should have stopped here... but it didn't. In fact, it spread like wildfire. By default, new users in the client environment were MADE administrators!!! This madness carried on, and by the time of Windows XP, was commonplace.

Windows Vista tried to do something about it, by alerting the user when administrative access was required - but all the user had to do was click a button and say "ALLOW". Give a user a button that says "ALLOW", and they'll always press it...

Windows 7 went one step in the right direction, by getting rid of the Administrator account - but not before granting the first user set up FULL ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS...

In the UNIX/Linux world, we have the ROOT account. You can do anything with the root account, but it is never used as the primary account for users. This is the primary reason why UNIX/Linux computers are inherently safer than Windows ones.

Below are two links that you may find useful at some point - the first tell you ways you can manually remove spy ware from your computer (always useful knowledge), the second, explains why running as the Administrator is such a bad idea...



http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/06/how-to-clean-up-a-windows-spyware-infestation.html

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/06/the-windows-security-epidemic-dont-run-as-an-administrator.html

Running as Administrator is like Arnie armed to the teeth, walking through a Nursery class - a friendly fire incident waiting to happen...

Social Networking - why text is not the way to talk...

"Too be or knot 2b - that is the question?"

I'll admit that I am a social networking Luddite. I blog (your reading one now) and I use forums, but I seldom tweet, and I never Facebook. Why you ask? Because text is impersonal.

Take the following statement:

I think that cheese is really cheesy.

This statement can be taken several ways. It could mean that the speaker thinks that cheese has a very cheesy taste, or that cheese is a very old fashioned subject. We can't tell, because we're missing the human element of conversation, namely inflection. We can't tell what the original speaker means, because the text can't reflect how the speaker has said it.

When you have a conversation with someone, face to face, the importance of "Body Language" cannot be underestimated. A person's body language can tell you if they are being coy, sardonic, humorous, and a thousand other possible emotional subtleties that go along with the words you hear to create the verbal impression you receive.

Text does not do this well.

I have lost count of the number of sms, email, twitter, forum & facebook arguments I have witnessed caused by simple misunderstandings. For your own sake, keep your text conversations simple, and if possible, read them through before posting. If you think what you have written may be taken the wrong way, then rephrase it - because you can guarantee that someone will...

Google auto complete - your frustrations...

Justa quick post from the trenches my friends. I've had lots of complaints about Internet Explorer, and it's auto complete function - "bring back IE7" the users say. On later inspection, in turns out it's NOT IE8, but Google's automatic completion in it's search bar. This is very difficult to turn off, but you can get round it by setting your home page to...

http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?complete=0

This will turn it off before it even starts... :)

Smoke gets in your eyes... and fans... and power supplies...

You all know the score. If you smoke, everyone else is at the risk of becoming PASSIVE SMOKERS - that is, if you smoke around someone, they too can share in the exotic toxic cloud you enjoy.

Now, I'm not here to stop you smoking - good God no. I may not agree with it, but free choice, "power to the people" etc., means I will not preach at you about how you abuse your bodies. Your computer, on the other hand, is another matter...

Dust is the computer engineer's worst enemy. Dust can turn a fabulously running piece of kit into a slovenly malfunctioning heap of scrap metal that sits in the corner of your living room like a teenager waiting for his/her allowance. Dust does this by creating electrical shorts, or by stopping the computer from shedding heat.

Now, imagine dust mixed with Marmite.

That's what happens to the insides of your computer if you smoke - the insides become covered in a thin layer of sticky tar that attracts dust like a doughnut attracts flies. The result is a sticky, grimy mess that's almost impossible to shift with anything other than a blowtorch. Once that gets into your computer, it's only a matter of time before problems start developing. Power supplies start to overheat, memory fails, fans slow down...

If you want to see just how bad it can get, take a look at these Ventblockers.

**Shudders **

The moral? Don't smoke around your PC...

My printer's stopped working, or "50 ways to leave your paperrrr..."

I.T. Specialists have a condition, called "Printer Shudder". It's a very common condition, which results in cold sweats, palpitations and indigestion, and is usually triggered by a certain phrase...

"My printer's stopped working."

At this point, many professionals hardened by a life in the trenches, under constant fire from users, managers & suppliers, have lost the will to live, and have ended their lives using the ancient japanese rite of Hari-Epson-ki (death by a thousand paper cuts).

To ease their ancient burden (and to prevent many a premature, and stingy death), we present to you everything you (as a user) need to know about your printer.

First off, you have 3 basic types of printer -

• Dot Matrix - these print onto paper by punching blunt pins through a inked ribbon, to create characters on your page. Old, but still useful in some cases...
• Ink Jet - these spray small dots of ink onto your page - usually in varying colours. These are the most common home printers...
• Laser - these create a image of your printed page on a special drum using static electricity - the drum is then covered in black powder called toner which sticks to the static image. The drum then transfers the toner to a paper page, which is then heated to fuse the toner to the page as ink.
• Colour Laser - same as a normal laser, but the image is seperated into 4 distinct colours (black, cyan, magenta and yellow), before fusing to the page.
  

Most common problems....

• Connection - make sure your printer is connected to your computer - no connection, no printee...
• Installation - you have installed the printer software for your operating system haven't you? No? Really? Good Grief! Go back to GO, do not pass GO, do not collect £200...
• Power - don't laugh! You have turned the printer on haven't you...
• Paper - make sure you have loaded the paper according to the manual...
• Is the printer ready? Usually, there is a light that shows the printer is ready to print - if that light is not shining, check your printer documentation (you might need to press one of the buttons on the printer to get it going you know...)

Not so common problems...

• Paper Jams - no matter how good you are with your printer, you will have paper jams - it's a fact of life. However, when clearing a paper jam, remember the following...
  • Remove paper slowly and carefully
  • Do not use sharp objects to poke anywhere in the paper path - seriously!
  • Look very carefully for foreign objects (such as paper clips, screws, pins, pencils, coins, sweets, condoms - I'm not kidding here...)
• Faulty ink cartridges - try wiping any electrical contacts with a lint free cloth, or even better, isopropyl alcohol. Replace the cartridges as a last resort...
  
• Marks on toner drums (you can try wiping these off with a lint free cloth.
• Refilled Inks/Toners - I know inks/toners are expensive, but refills are always problematic - any problems, replace with an new cartridge.
• Print Quality - normally cured by using a new ink/toner cartridge - especially true with HP printers...
  

As with many things in life, printers are not rocket science. Simple common sense wins through everytime with these little beasties, but if all else fails, at least they are cheap to buy...

The low down on memory...

If you've worked in support for any length of time, you'll have had a similar conversation to this at least once...

User: Hi there - My computer says it's low on memory
Support: No problem. How much memory does it have?
User: 250 Gigabytes
Support: (groans) No, how much physical memory does your machine have?
User: I told you, 250 Gigs.
Support: (sighs) That's not your memory, that's your hard disk...

OR...

User: Hi There - My computer says it's running low on disk space
Support No problem. How much space do you have free?
User: 4 Gig.
Support: Ok - delete everything from the temporary area.
User: Done!
Support: How much space fo you have free now?
User: 4 Gig.
Support: What? You've just deleted 30 Gigs of porn - you can't still have 4 Gig left...

...And so on...

Why do we receive these calls? Simply because there is confusion in the user's eye between Memory and Storage space, so let's address the problem with our little handy-dandy guide to all things Gigabyte...

Computers need to able to store information, otherwise, they simply couldn't function (and what would be the point in that). Computers need 2 basic types of storage space; storage that can be accessed almost instantly, and storage where the access time doesn't matter. With me so far?

Fast Storage is what we call Random Access Memory (RAM) or Physical Memory - that is, very fast, silicon chip storage space that the computer can use to store data. RAM is very, very fast and volatile i.e. the data only exists in storage as long as electrical power is supplied, which makes RAM ideal for storing data that the computer needs short term e.g. running programs, calculations etc...

In contrast, Slow Storage is used for data that needs to be non-volatile i.e. available to the system after power is removed. The most common form of Slow Storage is in the form of Hard Disk space, which we use to store the Operating System e.g. Windows 7, the programs we wish to use, and the data for those programs that we want to keep (such as photographs). Hard Disks are basically a collection of metal platters which store data magnetically.

Fast Storage is expensive, which is why you have quite a bit less of it than cheap and plentiful Slow Storage. The more Fast Storage you have, the faster your machine will run, but be warned - each machine has a limit on how much Fast Storage it can use.

You may have heard of Flash Drives, USB Sticks or Solid State Drives - these are all forms of Slow Storage that are either faster, more portable, or more reliable than normal Hard Disks. CD / DVD's are Slow Storage that are designed to be read only (you can't put data on them) or read many / write once in the case of DVD / CD writers.

So why the confusion? Simply because both types of storage are measured using the same scale - the Byte. 1 Byte can store a small amount of information (such as a character). 1 MegaByte = 1 Million Bytes (approximately) and 1 GigaByte = 1000 MegaBytes (also approximately), so as you can see, 250 GigaBytes is a lot of information!

Don't get me started on TeraBytes (1000 GigaBytes)... :)

Sorry for the lack of updates recently...

...been very busy at work. Two new posts will be available soon, once I get the cartoons done, so keep checking!