Practical Technology

People, who like Linux, like yours truly, often harp on the fact that Linux is more secure than Windows. And, so it is, but most people still stick with Windows since that’s what they know and like so many bad habits it’s hard to break. That’s especially true when the benefit, improved security, isn’t seen as giving an immediate benefit. In the last few weeks, though, experts who aren’t Linux fans, have been noticing that these days there are so many dangers with shopping or banking online while using Windows that they’re now recommending people use Linux instead.

The most prominent example of this is The Washington Post’s security columnist, Brian Krebs. Krebs recently recommended that after interviewing “dozens of victim companies that lost anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000 dollars because of a single malware infection,” he’s now recommending that, “commercial online banking customers consider accessing their accounts solely from non-Windows systems.”

As Krebs points out, he’s not the only one. The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, an online financial-sector security forum recommends business users, “”carry out all online banking activity from a standalone, hardened, and locked-down computer from which e-mail and Web browsing is not possible.”

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