Is Obsolescence Good Computer Security?

caesar-auf-nihil asks: "I was recently considering a switch from dial-up to something faster (either cable or DSL) but my friend recommended against it since he said I was more secure staying with Dial-Up. His argument was that my connection's slowness and 'not always on' connection gave me better security since I was less of a target for many security threats. Now, I have never gotten infected, nor do I believe my machine is infested with spyware and/or controlling programs as it runs fine, but I wonder if the obsolescence argument is really good or not. Does Dial-Up really protect you or is this a false sense of security and I should just go ahead and pick a faster service and make sure my firewall is a good one and my virus definitions are always up to date?"

You're not thinking big enough!

[hoggoth]

Why go for slightly better security when you can go all the way?!
Forget dial-up. Hand floppies to your friends with instructions on what web pages you'd like to browse. They will return the floppies to you with the pages. You will be extremely secure from viruses... much better than dial-up. Think of it like Netflix for the web.

Dial Up much more secure...

[MosesJones]

Its much more secure if you personally just dialup and squark and squeek at the handset processing all of the information yourself, you can't do this with DSL because its a digitial line so you can't hear what it is saying properly. Personally this form of internet communication, while a little slow (around 2 baud) has never resulted in any security problems.

In summary

Your friend is a muppet, probably Fozzy, potentially Gonzo.

dial-up: the dry humping of internet connections?

[jazzman45]

I don't think so. You'd better slip a giant condom over your whole computer one way or the other. Sticking it in (to the wall) is going to put you at risk of infection either way. Only complete abstinance will work 100% of the time. Jusk ask ol' bushy.

Re:Not true

[Planesdragon]

How exactly are you going ot be mugged if you're naked?

"Give me your wallet!"

"What wallet?"

In other good advice ....

[icepick72]

Tell your friend to buy a Sherman Tank and drive it to work so he'll be less affected by traffic accidents. It goes slower, is harder to dent so has great security. All other things aside, this is the ultimate way to get to work.

Yeah it totally works

[Feanturi]

But you can't stop with just dialup. You have to use MSDOS 2.0, and get yourself a good ansi term program to connect to a dialup that gives you telnet, ftp, nn, lynx, pine, etc. Use a 300 baud modem for maximum attack-throttling also.

Crack my CPC-464!

[ettlz]

No-one's gonna be able to hack into my old Amstrad, ha-ha-ha! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, you OpenBSD pretenders!

Re:Dial-up does not make you more secure

[Glonoinha]

Not to mention you can't exactly throw a Linksys router (hardware firewall) inbetween you and the wall when you are on dialup.
This is about like having sex without a condom and thinking 'well she is a little slow, so she probably doesn't have any diseases.'

I have a better solution...

[Millenniumman]

Just use a calculator. You won't get any viruses this way. On a more serious note, this isn't a good idea. Dial-up is very slow, and it simply isn't worth it to stay on it for security. And whether broadband is less secure is arguable. It makes it much more convenient to download security updates. If you don't want to be always on, disconnect the computer from the internet. Then again, I use a Mac, so I don't really have the best comprehension of PC security problems in general.

Stone Tablet

[BarneyRubble]

Yes i agree with your friend. I still use my chisel and stone tablet for all my important work.

Re:Dial-up does not make you more secure

[Anonymous Coward]

What if I ran only the kermit protocol, on a 486, running OS2, on dialup? Would that be obscure enough to be secure?

*starts digging around to find that 486 in the basement*

Re:Oh dear god what a stupid idea/concept

[generic-man]

I think those AOL commercials have really been sinking in.

"Did you know that with a high speed connection, you're more vulnerable to attacks? Get AOL Broadband to keep yourself safe! Just $15 on top of your DSL fee per month."

Re:Dial-up does not make you more secure

[Shakrai]

Now THAT is good advice! Best buddy stole my router forcing me to turn my under used linux machine into a router/firewall.... I am twice the tech I was (now i canplay minesweeper AND manipulate text based routing tables)

Well, if you can play minesweeper you are well on your way to a MCSE certification :)

*duck*

Re:Yikes

[danielrose]

(like direct peer communication, like for video chats for ex.).

i so read that as "like video chats for sex."

Re:Dial-up does not make you more secure

[mo^]

they don't give a stuff about text based network configs though......

Re:Dial-up does not make you more secure

[caluml]

No, it's your sly hinting that it's likely to be a box running Gentoo. What's that all about?

Re:Not true

[Anonymous Coward]

How exactly are you going ot be mugged if you're naked?

"Give me your wallet!"

"Here you go."

"Uh... never mind."

A modem puts you at more risk

[nincehelser]

If you happen to contract one of that nasty malware that silently dials one of those expensive phone services, you'll wish you would have ditched it.

Re:Oh dear god what a stupid idea/concept

[Anonymous Coward]

So you're the fucker who turned the net off last night.