I remember setting up a fresh XP install for a friend, and within seconds of plugging in the ethernet cable Internet Explorer started opening tons of flashing ad windows everywhere. Firewall wasn’t on by default I guess? LOL
I also remember that system messenger exploit that could send spam as system “OK” prompts to any XP machine. That was wild.
That’s a really good point. Maybe that was cool before the Internet was swarming with exploit-sniffing bots, but nowadays? I can’t even imagine!
I’ve seen some videos where people open port 80 on their home network running something like PFSense. In seconds it’s getting hammered from everywhere, all at once. Just wild.
I still talk with folks about what an unmitigated security disaster it was prior to SP2.
I remember setting up a fresh XP install for a friend, and within seconds of plugging in the ethernet cable Internet Explorer started opening tons of flashing ad windows everywhere. Firewall wasn’t on by default I guess? LOL
I also remember that system messenger exploit that could send spam as system “OK” prompts to any XP machine. That was wild.
Also if you had gotten a cracked “no key” version it would have come with malware
Yeah the crazy thing is that most people were using ADSL connections directly from their computer, without a router.
Raw dogging the internet with no firewall, that was wild.
That’s a really good point. Maybe that was cool before the Internet was swarming with exploit-sniffing bots, but nowadays? I can’t even imagine!
I’ve seen some videos where people open port 80 on their home network running something like PFSense. In seconds it’s getting hammered from everywhere, all at once. Just wild.