OT: XP & malware

[flash flash@xxxxxxxx]

On 19/5/12 5:10 AM, Harry Binswanger wrote:
>> Or, if you totally
>> draw the line at XP, another option is to have a computer dedicated
>> just to that, **which does not ever connect to the Internet.** In
>> that scenario, you could afford not to care about malware (nearly
>> all of which is contracted online), even after the security fixes
>> have ceased.
>
> Do you think anyone is going to be writing malware for the few users who
> still have XP3? I stopped installing updates a couple of years ago and
> I've had no problems. (I do have Norman AV.)

Y'all,
Malware may or may not be written specifically for XP; it can be written
to exploit vulnerabilities of apps which run under, among other OSs, XP.
The browser is often the target these days (Safari was recently
targeted, btw). If MS stops issuing security patches for the browser
which runs under XP, and/or makes some future IE-iteration no longer
XP-compatible, you will be at risk.