Anonymous surfing my ass!

[full-disclosure () lists netsys com (Nick FitzGerald)]

Chris replied to Steve:

> On Sun, Jul 14, 2002 at 09:35:39AM -0600, Steve wrote:
> ...
> > bother clicking on the link.  And for those of us who happen to be
> > checking email on Windoze boxes, clicking on random Internet links
> > probably isn't the brightest thing to do from IE unless you have
> > bothered to disable all the various active scripting etc.......
>
> Patient:  Doctor, it hurts when I bang my head into the wall.  What can I do?
> Doctor:  Stop banging your head into the wall!

Yes, yes but for many -- and for better or worse, though there's no 
prize for guessing which I think it is -- not using Windows (and 
even such stupidities as not using Outlook, or worse not using Notes) 
is not an option without breaking local "security" policies.  As the 
people who are likely to directly benefit most (at all?) from lists 
such as this are the people who have to be seen to be most committed 
to enforcing security policies (even if they are grievously stupid 
policies), throwing out a blanket "don't use Windows" or "don't use 
<pet peeve network client software>" is not a constructive response.

Suggesting sidestepping or subverting the local security policy (I'm 
not saying Chris was -- it could be inferred from his comment, but 
that would be a stretch) is grossly unprofessional (unless the 
suggester is not a security professional, in which case it is just 
common stupidity).


Regards,

Nick FitzGerald