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Idle Windows XP and 2000 machines get infected with viruses within minutes of being exposed online — legacy OSes compromised by just connecting to the Internet (www.tomshardware.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] Peffse 30 points 6 months ago (8 children)

I wonder how many people still directly connect to the internet without a gateway. It seems sensational to say "INSTANTLY INFECTED" and then tiny print (in a way that nobody connects to the internet since 1999). But maybe I'm just ignorant to how large a market still use direct connection.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I doubt many people would do that. You would have to intentionally set it up that way. Residential ISPs almost always supply a modem with a built in router which will have a firewall. You would have to set it to bridge mode, enable the DMZ, or use your own modem.

I haven't connected a computer directly to the internet since I used dial-up.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I remember back in the days of broadband being brand new. Comcast insisted that you had to pay for each device that connected to the Internet. Using a router was considered against the TOS.

I do not miss those days.

[–] ThatKomputerKat 5 points 6 months ago

We had a router hooked up to our first RCA cable modem on Comcast, but then we were only comcast customers because they bought the company that originally hooked us up.

cable Companies though. Don’t miss cable internet at all. Fuck Comcast any decade.

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