US government tells Windows users to uninstall QuickTime

[Richard Gaskin]

RM wrote:

 > This is amazing: not what the US government is telling people to do,
 > but that people are so "sheepy" in doing so.

The perceived political/sociological aspects are beyond the scope of 
this list, but to be clear the ongoing program of providing notice of 
security vulnerabilities in widely-used systems is beyond doubt a 
valuable public service.

It's best when this information is provided by the software vendor 
themselves.  But having a public agency also provide notice of security 
risks is exactly what we hire them to do.


 > The simple fact is that all versions of Windows are 'compromised'
 > in terms of internet security unless one takes a considerable amount
 > of trouble to harden one's system.

All systems have vulnerabilities, and require prudent use.  Windows 
since the v7 kernel forward is pretty good, with most exploits in the 
wild being dependent on imprudent user habits, same as with exploits for 
Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.


 > If one does that then Quicktime shouldn't present a problem.

Not necessarily.  The true scope of vulnerabilities in any complex 
system is largely unknown.  What becomes known when a complex system 
reaches EOL is that once the next vulnerability is discovered it will 
remain unpatched.

The unknowns are why it's critically important to only use 
currently-supported software.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com