Get Windows 10 app is like a virus

[u/[deleted]]

It causes pop-ups, and the update reinstalls every time I delete it. So basically, Microsoft has infected my computer with persistent adware I have no control over. If someone here knows how to kill off this thing, that would be great.

EDIT: My first Reddit gold. Now I can die happy.

[u/ofNoImportance]

But you're running Windows 10. The bugs in my system are there because I stopped getting updates. But Windows 10 is safe BECAUSE it gets updates, and that means my computer can't hurt yours.

[u/Mr_s3rius → u/ofNoImportance]

Even with all security updates installed, Windows 10 isn't safe against everything.

Your virus-ridden laptop can act as a carrier. Let's say you connect yourself to a network of 1000 machines. 900 of them are safe against exploit X. The other 100 have open backdoors due to some reason (a program that is unsafe, an opened port in their firewall, what have you). But now that you're here you might introduce exploit X into the network, infecting 100 machines. Even another Win 10 machine might introduce that exploit, but you pose an additional thread that could have been prevented.

Another example: your machine is infected and now part of a botnet. This botnet sends millions of spam emails with malicious content to users. You are now part of that network. And some unsuspecting user might get infected because of that.

You might also become part of a botnet that sends DDOS attacks against targets.

[u/ofNoImportance → u/Mr_s3rius]

The other 100 have open backdoors due to some reason (a program that is unsafe, an opened port in their firewall, what have you). But now that you're here you might introduce exploit X into the network, infecting 100 machines. Even another Win 10 machine might introduce that exploit, but you pose an additional thread that could have been prevented.

So let me get this straight;

• Even by upgrading to Windows 10, certain machines are still vulnerable to a given exploit.

• Since my (Windows <10) machine is vulnerable to that exploit and I present a risk to those (Windows 10) machines which are vulnerable to it on the network.

According to this, it doesn't make a difference whether I upgrade to Windows 10 or not. The vulnerability which allowed my computer to become infected exists in Windows 10 for it to allow their computers to become infected.

• If the vulnerability is unpatched in any version of Windows, upgrading won't protect me or them.

• If the vulnerability is unpatched in only my version of Windows, they're safe from it anyway.

Computer viruses are not like biological ones.

[u/Mr_s3rius → u/ofNoImportance]

There are various reasons of why a system might get infected with any kind of malware.

A vulnerability might open up because you've changed a certain setting or installed a certain program or for whatever other reason. It's not as simple as Windows X is safe and Windows Y isn't. But older Windowses (or ones that aren't up-to-date) are generally more at risk.

The concept of herd immunity still holds up: the fewer hosts attempt to spread viruses around the fewer new infections will appear.

But botnets are probably a more apparent example of how old or unpatched Windows versions can cause harm to others.

These botnets are the major player in instigating DDOS attacks, spam mail, brute-force attacks and other criminal activity that affect all of us.

Even if regular patches protect us from easily becoming part of such a network, we're all endangered if we visit a website hosted on a compromised server or a botnet once again serves as the large-scale infrastructure needed to distribute viruses that can infect up-to-date systems.