When you realize that something's destructive, that's usually a good time to cut it out.
When my brother was about four, he had to go get a shot in his arm. A few days later, my Mum asked him if his arm still hurt. He folded his arm, raised his elbow up over his head, and replied, “It still hurts when I do this.”
...so stop doing that, silly.
Corporations face the same situation regarding Outlook, Windows, and computer virii. I’ve advocated people getting rid of Outlook for a little over a year now, saying that it was the application that was hardest-hit by all the various virii that hit the Web every now and again. Now, other professionals are starting to call for banning Microsoft’s email program. Too many problems that get exploited, they say. Even with a sysadmin who downloads all the latest Microsoft patches, it’s too timeconsuming to take care of the endless fixes, they say. And to that, I add: it could cost more than just some corporate dollars.
Let’s all get paranoid for a minute. Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in the terrorist attacks in New York, is one sharp cookie. He doesn’t shun technology outright. He knows what’s out there. He gets news, and has been for the last four years and longer. He knows that lots of American companies depend on Microsoft products (rightly or wrongly…that’s a discussion for another day.) Does anyone out there honestly feel okay with putting air marshals on U.S. flights, having increased border checks at the 49th parallel, and sending military resources to central Asia, but -=still=- leaving corporations all over North America vulnerable to attack?
“Our company still gets hit by computer virii when we use Outlook.”
...so stop doing that, silly.
Wake up. Ban Outlook. Don’t just have your sysadmin put a better firewall in place. Don’t just make sure you’ve got the latest patches. Stop using it — at least for a few years, if not forever.
And put your elbow down while you’re at it.
Keywords: | technology | security | email programs |
Posted by Laughing Muse • 466 views • Share this link • Newer • Older
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