[AfrICANN-discuss] China, a Country which has turned into a Rogue State

[SM]

At 06:39 17-01-10, Douglas Onyango wrote:
>My point here is that just because the code is 
>available openly, is not necessarily tantamount 
>to all these problems..........the real problem 
>is what the vendors like Microsoft are doing to 
>design inherently secure systems - They need to 
>embrace secure models and if they can't do that 
>users especially we the African's need to find 
>alternative secure systems and practices.

People will turn off security if it means more 
work for them.  This applies to users of open 
source software and to those using Microsoft products.

>PS: Just incase your wondering how you can keep 
>yourself safe while you use the Internet i wrote 
>this note a little while back and i am sure will 
>be helpful 
>http://www.delta-itsolutions.com/?q=Staying%20Safe%20on%20the%20Internet

Is it safe for me to click on that link?  I was 
told never to click on any link in emails. :-)

>--- On Sun, 1/17/10, Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>From: Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [AfrICANN-discuss] China, a Country 
>which has turned into a Rogue State
>To: "Douglas Onyango" <ondouglas at yahoo.com>
>Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010, 2:20 PM

[snip]

>I have been victim of the CC fraud in UK and 
>South Africa. Where at first I could not 
>understand how it could have happened, given 
>that I had taken all necessary precautions when 
>using them and the card were in my possesion!!!

Did you ever lose sight of the credit card for a 
few seconds?  If you used the credit card online, 
are you sure that all the sites where you used it 
are secure?  The security of a credit card 
transaction requires more than the padlock you see in the browser window.

>When you think of how many Governement computers 
>in our countries are 'open' to piracy (not to 
>mention networks, etc.) in general and how 
>information is becoming a critical asset, I am 
>very worried about that aspect of story for the African region.

Does that mean software piracy or is this about 
multimedia downloads?  If governments are 
"stealing" software, who can we trust?

Let's rewrite a few paragraphs first from the article:

There was an attack on Google conducted by 
Internet users who were using a Microsoft 
product.  It is now revealed that China 
(according to 
https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/africann/2010-January/002047.html 
) appears to have used a flaw in a Microsoft product.

   Does Microsoft have any responsibility in the attack as it could not
   have been done without its product?

   Are these Internet users responsible for the attack as the code was
   actually run from their computers?

Regards,
-sm