RUMOR: Texas State Government Under Cyber Attack

[tmosley]

Ok guys, today I was at work in my laboratory, which we lease from the local university/hospital, and the internet was down. A few minutes after I got in, a voice came over the intercom informing everyone in the building that they were under attack from a computer virus, and that anyone who had been connected to the internet needed to shut down their computer immediately. Luckily, our lab is all Mac, so it wasn't a problem for us.

This afternoon, after muddling along with reduced productivity, I spoke to one of the department professors who said that the entire state of Texas was under cyber attack by the virus. Apparently it hit the prison system and caused a statewide lockdown, it has certainly hit the university system (I was there!), and it has hit the department of transportation.

I was wondering if anyone has noticed any problems if you work in a government office, in Texas or elsewhere. I only know for certain that it hit the university. Any confirmation from elsewhere would be appreciated.

[puppetmaster]

evil Chinese....., wait its the flotilla folks most likely. time to bomb Iran, and shut the web down to protect the masses!

[libertythor]

Sounds like the Obama administration is pissed.

[tmosley]

Hmmm, I guess I will find out more on Monday, if no one else has any more info.

[CoreyBowen999]

Well.. living in Texas, I havent noticed anything but I dont work in any of those areas

[sevin]

immediately. Luckily, our lab is all Mac, so it wasn't a problem for us.


:D

Everyone should get macs.

[tmosley]

:D

Everyone should get macs.

Or someone should make a competing operating system that is as secure, and drive the prices down.

I'm tired of having to pay a 50% premium in order to have good virus protection.

[constituent]

Or someone should make a competing operating system that is as secure, and drive the prices down.

I'm tired of having to pay a 50% premium in order to have good virus protection.

whatever you do, avoid hard restarts...

[Vessol]

Or someone should make a competing operating system that is as secure, and drive the prices down.

I'm tired of having to pay a 50% premium in order to have good virus protection.

*cough* Linux *cough*

[Slutter McGee]

I can tell you that there were no major problems in banking systems around here.

Sincerely,

Slutter McGee

[Athan]

Nothing to report on my end. (Appraisal Districts are subordinates of the the Texas Comptroller)

[silverhandorder]

Mac fanboys it is just not worth hacking 2% of PCs running mac. :)

[tmosley]

Linux is NOT secure, guys. It is many things to many people, and in the hands of a professional, it might be, but Mac is secure out of the box.

That said, the internet is still down at Texas Tech and at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center.

[Vessol]

Mac's are also bitches to upgrade and maintain, you end up buying a new one every other year because you little options to upgrade it. Their OS makes poor use of memory I find, not as poor use as Windows, but I can't allocate it. They're 'userfriendly' to the idiots who can't take the time to learn basic network security.

If you don't use Windows because you don't trust Microsoft, why do you trust Apple?

[tmosley]

Mac's are also bitches to upgrade and maintain, you end up buying a new one every other year because you little options to upgrade it. Their OS makes poor use of memory I find, not as poor use as Windows, but I can't allocate it. They're 'userfriendly' to the idiots who can't take the time to learn basic network security.

If you don't use Windows because you don't trust Microsoft, why do you trust Apple?

Because it just works.

I'm posting from a three year old mac that survived a fire and a direct hit with a fire hose, watching internet video on a 6 year old one that went through the same. The average useful lifespan of a Mac in our lab is about ten years, versus two for a PC.

Also, I upgraded my memory just fine. An associate of mine got a larger hard drive and a memory upgrade just as easily.

Also, I love how anyone who isn't an expert in computer security is an "idiot". It's called specialization. I know more than you do about surface modifications and microbial metabolism. That doesn't mean that you are an idiot, you just don't want to waste time learning something you don't need to know. I, similarly, don't want to spend months struggling to become a Linux expert. I tried for a while, but I could never get everything on my computer to work--even with Windoze I was able to get everything to work within three days of driver searching. When I bought my first Mac, I was up and running in twenty minutes, and have spent less than an hour over its whole lifetime dealing with any and all "issues" related to security or functionality outside of specific programs.

Also, I have never heard of a virus that was able to infect a Mac without social engineering. There are plenty that can affect Linux. Of course, there are many times more threats to Windows, but still.

[torchbearer]

Because it just works.

I'm posting from a three year old mac that survived a fire and a direct hit with a fire hose, watching internet video on a 6 year old one that went through the same. The average useful lifespan of a Mac in our lab is about ten years, versus two for a PC.

Also, I upgraded my memory just fine. An associate of mine got a larger hard drive and a memory upgrade just as easily.

Also, I love how anyone who isn't an expert in computer security is an "idiot". It's called specialization. I know more than you do about surface modifications and microbial metabolism. That doesn't mean that you are an idiot, you just don't want to waste time learning something you don't need to know. I, similarly, don't want to spend months struggling to become a Linux expert. I tried for a while, but I could never get everything on my computer to work--even with Windoze I was able to get everything to work within three days of driver searching. When I bought my first Mac, I was up and running in twenty minutes, and have spent less than an hour over its whole lifetime dealing with any and all "issues" related to security or functionality outside of specific programs.

Also, I have never heard of a virus that was able to infect a Mac without social engineering. There are plenty that can affect Linux. Of course, there are many times more threats to Windows, but still.

my pc has had a coke spilled in it while running- not on it, IN it.
it weakened a little bit, then picked right back up and kept working.
I've put PCs through severe abuse, and hardware still works. Including running my PCI cards through the dishwasher.

here is what i think of mac-
If everything was different, assume a world in which everyone owned a mac.
you'd only have a small handful of hardware manufacturers in existance. why?
because Mac is a "closed box" system. that is how it can be so stable. the OS is only written for specific hardware.
MS wrote their OS for any and all hardware, the downside is- there could be problems.
Thank god MS won that battle or we wouldn't have the competition or hardware evolution we have today.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

evil Chinese....., wait its the flotilla folks most likely. time to bomb Iran, and shut the web down to protect the masses!

I second that. We should also increase TSA agents and pass more stringent laws regulating airline security! just in case...

/sarc

[Matt Collins]

They have computers in TX? :confused::confused::confused:

[Vessol]

They have computers in TX? :confused::confused::confused:

See, they plug them into cows and then..