Service Pack 2: Patching the unpatchable

[Gary Stoneburner <gary.stoneburner@nist.gov>]

re:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-5270521.html?

"Designers of spyware have an embarrassment of choice when it comes
to ways to hide their cleverness. Between the time you turn your computer
on and the time the hard disk light goes off, the computer goes through
six different phases. Each corresponds in some sense to a historical step
in the operating system's evolution from its distant single-user,
single-tasking ancestor--and each loads information from many different
sources. (If you want to see the full horror, check Microsoft's own
description of the process
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prmc_str_reii.asp
but be sure to take a native guide and a full canteen of water.) The
security stuff, of course, goes in last, well after various other
services have woken up and long after the more advanced spyware has dug
its tendrils deep into the system. "

I do not know if this is all true, but it might be and seems to be worth
looking in to.  It might be that the computer should be booted up
without the network plugged in.  I do not know, just thinking out
loud :-).

Cheers,
Gary

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* Opinions expressed are not intended to reflect an official position
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* Gary Stoneburner
* Computer Security Division, National Institute of Standards & Technology
* 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930         
* Phone: 301-975-5394, FAX: 301-948-0279, Email: Stoneburner@nist.gov
* http://csrc.nist.gov/staff/stoneburner/gshome.html
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