If 60,000 patents are now open source then they don't need to renew the patents anymore

Patents are by definition "open" since anyone can read them. They are just making them usable by FOSS (I suspect that most of them are of dubious value anyway).

Now why would you think that.

https://www.zdnet.com/pictures/bizarre- ... ok-holder/

Maybe someone can then update WinXP (to support the new encryption protocols). I still use XP (VM) as my main Sandbox. lol

Yes; typing this now in WinXP.

I don't trust anything from Microsoft...



Try a FOSS encryption utility like VeraCrypt to encrypt folders with important files.

It's not about drive data, Racer; it's about browsing encryption. Some sites don't work due to SSL issues for instance. I usually can then take out FireFox in WinXP for those sites, but I'm no fan of FF; still use an old version of Iron Browser but it's been a few years since it's been updated. lol

Even so, there's some sites that just won't work period due to my old OS and an OS update would be required. I just like the simplicity of WinXP. Don't care about the bells and whistles of new OSs. I still, of course, do all my renders in Win10 64-bit, but do all my browsing in a XP sandbox for security reasons. Yes; heard there were crossover vulnerabilities w.r.t. Virtual Machines, but I've not seen it happen to me yet and using a Sandbox is 10,000 times more safer than using an Anti-virus other than keyloggers of course. Keyloggers is, pretty much, the only issue using a sandbox, but I address that by recovering my sandbox to a golden state 2 to 3 times a month (or more often if necessary). I also run SandboxIE in my VM thus I'm double-sandboxed. Now you know how paranoid I am. lol

I try not to browse in my Host OS, but do so too (but it's relatively rare and only sites I absolutely trust and have to do so due to the constaints required (i.e., won't work in WinXP; could possibly work in my 64-bit Lubuntu (not Ubuntu) OS, but I just use Edge for those sites). Anyway, everyone uses their own scheme for OS protection. I'll add that if you depend solely on an anti-virus program, regardless of which one, you are just asking for trouble. All they do is give you a false sense of security.

I have only one Windows OS installed in a VM and that's win7. I do not allow it to have internet access and never will. To use XP on the web is crazy in my opinion.

You are far better off installing Linux in a VM and surf to your hearts content, in my opinion. Or use it in a bootable thumbdrive on any computer you want that supports booting to USB.

Yes, browsing from a Linux VM would be safer. In fact your XP browser works with sites that accept downgrading the security protocol to old versions that have normally been abandoned due to security exposures.

I'm pretty sure that a barebones Linux with Chrome or Firefox is smaller/faster than an XP, and it would have all the recent security stuff...

Different problem. Lyle worries about malware getting on his PC. A VPN protects you against eavesdropping (to some point...), but doesn't prevent the visited site from injecting malware in your OS.

It's not about privacy, Wallace; it's about security. A VPN only addresses privacy, but won't protect you against malware.

If you've seen my renders, racer-x, you know how crazy I am. lol

Regardless, since WinXP is now not used by most, it takes work for mal-ware attackers to support this old platform. Soon, it will be the safest OS since no one uses it and to add software to support that platform as well takes a lot more pain than it would be worth it. Even so, I also run Sandboxie within my Sandbox so, in essence, I'm double-sandboxed. Not just that, I recover to a gold set point often enough; takes 3 to 4 seconds (no joke) in Virtualbox to do so. Virtualization, regardless of OS used, is the only (and I repeat, only) way to protect your OS from all the vectors of attack out there except keyloggers (which I mitigate by recovering from golden set points, but who knows).

And I do have a 64-bit LUbuntu OS installed, ofnuts. If there was an equivalent to Sandboxie for Linux, I would have done so a long time ago, but there isn't. I like being double-sandboxed; that's how paranoid I've become since my PC repair days. Nearly every one of my customers had pretty good anti-malware programs yet they got infected (and that included NOD32; arguably one of the best anti-virus programs out there). I use a sandbox to protect my Main Host (Win10) which I rarely do any online stuff on (but do have to occasionally do so). I've heard of crossover vector attacks that take advantage of folk that use Virtualization, but I've yet run across such issues.

Bottom line is, if you dont' virtualize, you are using your own PC. If you virtualize (sandbox), it's the equivalent of you using your friends PC to browse. If you double-sandbox, it's the equivalent of you using your friend's PC and running a remote PC somewhere else (sans IP addresses of course since I don't VPN; may one day do so, but with my browsing habits, I can give a dang about those type of spies).

FireJail is an extra sandbox in Linux. I run all my browsers with the firejail switch on. I doubt you are more cautious than I when web browsing.

Also when using a live Linux USB, it is impervious because it is Read Only. Any programs you install or settings change you make, will be deleted when shutting down. The next time you use it, it will be as new. I also run a live ISO from my HDD that does the same thing. I get there from my boot menu. These things are impervious to any infection.

The times they are a'changin.. Your customers used a rather unsafe operating system (WinXP...), and most of them ran Firefox will full admin rights, at a time when browser were rather open to attacks. Modern OSes are much safer (even Windows...), browsers are much safer (but I don't know if these recent versions support WInXP) and running with full admin rights is no longer the norm.

Also, XP still has likely more users than Linux, and is a lot easier to break in.

Also, you can "chroot" Firefox in a VM.

Yes; the DeepFreeze approach has some merit, racer-x (use a live CD that is) and I indeed have a Win10 version of Hiren's CD that I created a dedicated VM for that does this approach, but I've not used it since I first created it a few months ago (added Firefox and such as I recall and created Golden set point so it opens straight to desktop). Still, I prefer the Sandboxie approach. Have 5 Sandboxie entities that I run at least 2 (if not 3) simultaneously (one's for youtube, the other for email, and the third for posting at my main sites to include GIMPChat). I don't recover that often; usually, on average around every 10 days (recover to gold set point that is) and it's just convenient for my browsing habits to do it this way.

To ofnuts, undoubtedly you are right, but since I use one Sandboxie session strictly for banking, this mitigates some of what you (and I) are concerned with, but regardless of method use, there's no real safety when it comes to someone with talent that really wants to give you a bad hair day; just a fact. I try not to push those that have such a challenge and ability. lol