Stop ransomware - jump out of Microsoft's Windows

 There is one sure way to prevent a cyber attack and that is throw away your Windows machine. The latest wave of ransomware attacks has only affected WINDOWS 10 and other recent WINDOWS versions. I have been in computing, for my sins, since 1974 way before Bill Gates was on the scene. In those days apart from gaming machines like the Commodore 64, and an admirarable BBC machine and some early Clive Sinclair efforts, essentially the home computer was not around.

That all changed when in 1985 Microsoft and Gates produced OS/2 for IBM and went on to market WINDOWS, which by the early 1990s occupied over 90% of the personal computer market.

 It faced no serious competition until the niche but highly original Apple Mac was introduced and began being bought as a top end PC by some dedicated and loyal users in 1998. The Apple company had also been around since the 1970s but had suffered financial woes in its early days under its founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Apple unlike Microsoft also marketed the machines, as well as the software. There was another vital difference. The Apple machines were secure but the WINDOWS software was vulnerable to hacking so users were encouraged to buy anti-virus software to protect their machines. But WINDOWS was deeply flawed and hackers were able to exploit its vulnerability and still do so. Virtual defenestration will fix it.

 For home users this meant constant patches to fix the security holes, as they were exploited by hackers and the additional burden of having to buy anti-virus software. But in parallel to this the internet had exploded and big companies and organisations began ditching their big mainframe computers for networks of PCs. The genie was out of the box and as a result those juicy and cash  laden organisations were at the mercy of the hacker. Not only the professional experts in government and black industries but also to anyone at home, including young kids, who got a buzz from violating the supposed sanctuaries of our data held by organisations such as the big banks, commerce, government and industry.

 The common denominator in all of these attacks has been WINDOWS. Not only the most successful operating system ever but also the most insecure. Those in government and the fat IT chief executives who bought it by the shipload must take responsibility for failing to defend us from these attacks. Mrs. May and Presidents Trump and Putin have failed in their first responsibility-the security and defence of their nations.