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I can still hear your startup sound (lemmy.zip)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev
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Gone but not forgotten

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[–] 27 points 2 weeks ago* (4 children)

I still talk with folks about what an unmitigated security disaster it was prior to SP2.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

    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 like "Now_all_of_China_knows_you're_here.jpeg" LOL.

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