[ale] OT: A funny one from Computerworld on XP SP2

[Preston Boyington]

Matthew Brown wrote:
> I cut-and-pasted this one from the ComputerWorld site.  It is in the
> middle of the article on Windows XP SP2, discussing the benefits of
> SP2's new networking security:
> 
>     * Protection against DoS attacks
> 
>       SP2 should help significantly with denial-of-service (DoS)
>       attacks caused by buffer overflows
> 
> <http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,
>       10801,82920,00.html>, when too much data is sent to an
>       application's temporary storage area -- sometimes causing that
>       excess data to act as executable code. One of the most popular
> DoS exploits, buffer 
> overflows will
>       now be prevented from executing commands and will shut down
>       systems instead. It's an inconvenience that's worth the peace of
>       mind that no code can be launched and the device won't
> be further
>       damaged.

Microsoft continues to do the work of Linux advocates by making "advancements" like these...

I would have loved to be in that meeting:

Manager: "We've got to do something about these DoS attacks.  They are hurting us in our corporate sales."

Programmer: "Hmm, we could have the machine shut down instead of executing the code."

Manager: "My Gates, that's brilliant!  Users are used to having to reboot for no reason, and if they complain we'll tell them we will offer an upgrade to Longhorn for only $200.00 (when we figure out how to do it) for their trouble!"

Manager then promptly sends an e-mail to the development staff to make the necessary update and has the Programmer's job outsourced.