"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
nightjar nightjar@ wrote:

to do so. The relativly better security probably does protect it from the
occasional destructive geek. However, I would need a lot more convincing
that it could withstand the sort of highly organised, well funded attacks
that MS products are subjected to.

I would be very supprised if the systems that build the core of the
internet backbone, coupled with those that run the highest profile sites
are not subjected to the most deliberate attacks going.

If you were a black hat looking to do mischief, what would be a bigger
prize.... A big pile of Windows boxes? or eBay, the BBC News site, and
Telehouse in docklands?

I'm not talking about the mischief makers, who are only a small part of the
problem. What I am talking about is the organised attacks by teams of
programmers working for criminals, primarily those distributing porn, that
are aimed at making money from the computer users. The Windows boxes are
both easier to get into and more likely to yield returns, both because the
users are less likely to know how to stop the attacks and because there are
simply so many of them that even duping a very small percentage of them will
bring in lots of money. I don't see any profit for that sector in attacking
servers, high profile sites or the internet itself.

Colin Bignell