Myths about Windows and Linux

Windows is insecure and every second version is stupid. Linux, on the other hand, is much more secure, although – or why – it doesn't need updates. And what about gaming and Linux? It's not quite that simple, we'll explain the mistakes.

Jörg Wirtgen

An SSD must be trimmed

It actually has to! But: Windows has been doing this regularly all by itself since Windows 7. Exceptions are extremely rare and then most likely with ancient SATA controllers that do not even know the TRIM command –, i.e. are at least 12, more likely 15 years old. If the operating system, driver and SSD are TRIM-capable, the system remembers whenever data is deleted and informs the SSD of this at intervals of a few days to weeks so that these memory areas are available more quickly for the next write access.

(jss@ct.de)

Windows spies

This myth can neither be fully proven nor completely refuted. However, it does contain several accusations, so it helps to understand what ‘espionage’ actually means.

The fact that Windows collects telemetry data (called ‘diagnostic data’ by Microsoft) is often mistakenly referred to as espionage. In fact, Windows collects a remarkable amount of data, especially if the user does nothing to reduce its collection. With these maximum settings, the diagnostic data can also include document content, images, personal data and the like. However, this is not ‘espionage’ because Microsoft openly announces that it collects this data – and also provides a tool that can be used to view the mountains of data in plain text.

Things get a little more complicated when it comes to the suspicion that Windows could also be spying independently of any telemetry data. For example, it could forward company documents, chat histories, photo collections and so on to Microsoft, any secret services or other questionable institutions. However, any halfway attentive administrator should be able to notice this from excessive network traffic.

There is also the recurring suspicion or fear that Windows is inadvertently or deliberately riddled with security vulnerabilities that are only known to certain intelligence services but have not yet been noticed. These gaps could be exploited for espionage purposes.

Based on the IT security news of the past few years, two things quickly become clear. Firstly: Yes, such security vulnerabilities have existed from time to time in the past and have also caused catastrophic damage. It is therefore not paranoid to assume that this will continue to be the case, but quite obvious. Secondly, the problem is unfortunately not limited to Windows – prominent and relatively recent example: the Pegasus spyware from the Israeli company NSO Group targets Android and iOS.