• csm10495
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    7 months ago

    Sometimes I wonder: for a PC sitting behind a consumer router with no extra ports forwarded: How important are OS updates?

    I mean if everything works for you on this version, why rock the boat? The idea is supposed to be security, fixes, and new features. We can throw out new features and fixes if you’re happy with everything as is.

    Security is very buzzy and kind of vague to this type of user, but they also probably don’t tread far off from popular (likely … hopefully … safe) websites.

    So hmm, if not accessing unsafe websites, and hidden behind a router NAT, and with physical safety of home, I wonder if the benefit of rocking the boat (and getting more ads and crap) is worth it.

    Like definitely risks are there for any internet connected device but weighing it would be interesting. Someone in infosec should do a real analysis of this situation.

    • bitfucker@programming.dev
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      7 months ago

      The problem with any device having any internet access at all is that it is quite trivial for a program to establish a connection to a known server (malware can initiate it) and then having those servers send commands back to the computer, effectively having control over it.

    • hayes_
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      7 months ago

      Brb. Gonna air gap my home real quick instead of updating windows.

    • brianorca@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The problem is “unsafe websites” is actually a very broad category. Even popular, reputable websites have accidentally hosted malware in the advertisements, some of which can infect without a click.