Morning and I've opened 20 pages of news related links. I open them first, then close the tabs as I read them.
Windows XP with Internet Explorer 7. "New and Improved". The first legitimate edition of Windows I've ever owned, it came with the computer. It just updated itself 2 days ago, downloading all the security patches and upgrades it needed to make for a better and safer browsing experience.
And as I'm reading the news of the day, news of the world, my browser begins to behave oddly, tabs open and close of their own accord, too late I minimize them to see in the background a warning from the "XP Police" that my computer may be riddled with spyware and trojans.
Now this is funny in a way, because I know this warning, it's proof positive that my computer is now riddled with spyware and trojans, and I futiley attempt to turn off the PC and reboot, hoping to interrupt it's installation. One of the tabs I opened was a bad tab, and I want very badly to know which one, to know which site is hosting this shit, and funny as it I'm not laughing, the "XP Police", as they call themselves, are warning me that I'm using an unregistered version of their malware, I should pay a fee to unlock the full version, and furious I try to bring up the task manager to end the process only to see that they've reserved this function for the "Administrator", and, goddamnit, I am the administrator and it's pissing me off something fierce!
Vicious and sadistic fantasies fill my head as I look at the litter of pop-ups and "Urgent Attention" dialogues, "Virus Scan Interrupted" warnings, that now cover my screen. Imagining finding where these ass-holes have their office and gouging out their eyeballs, electrocuting their fucking balls with wires ripped from the wall with my bare fingers, tearing their fucking faces from their skulls and stuffing them down their choking throats....
The rest are unmentionable.
It's hard to believe the perpetrators of this are in any sort of business, that a class action lawsuit hasn't shut them down, that someone, somewhere in the world hasn't found them and executed a Guantanamo Bay on their asses. But they're in Russia which is about as lawful for hackers as Mexico is for drug dealers, or the US for bankers. Meaning they can damned well do as they please without any fear of repercussions.
So I begin the long task of malwarebytes scans and deleting files from the registry, more scans, cleaning the PC. All in all about 2 hours to get my computer back. And when I break from the violent revenge fantasies I thank God and Allah above that I have Microsoft, the IE experience, patched and updated, otherwise, well, things could have been much worse....
Or probably not. I've never gotten a virus with Firefox, Chrome or Safari. So maybe things don't get worse. Maybe Microsoft is as bad as it gets.
Later in the day, surfing my now clean pc, IE ups and closes. "An unexpected error has occurred that requires Internet Explorer to close". I diligently send in the error report, my windows is legit, the solution is that is a "Recognized Problem" with Windows, no solution at this time, please ensure my software is up to date...
This happens probably every other day. Sometimes more often than others. "We know there's a problem and can't fix it..."
I need Windows, a PC, while I love the idea of a trouble free Mac or a Linux environment I put myself through this to feel my client's pain - they too use Windows (or they wouldn't need assistance), and perhaps I should be grateful for their contribution to the economy, the millions of people, not just here but worldwide, who make their living supporting a product that doesn't really work, and certainly not as advertised.