Editorial

The fifth week of 2004 was unusual enough to deserve a few
lines here. Who would have said at the start of the week
that anything could overshadow the arrival of Microsoft’s chief software
architect, Bill Gates? For all the attention the media gave the visit, I think
it was drowned out by an almost gigantic outbreak of the MyDoom computer virus. Once again we
made a poor showing and learned that all
security measures ultimately depend on us.

The latest outbreak showed that flaws in security
aren’t the only thing that lets infections spread like wildfire. More alarming are viruses
that use social engineering. How else do you explain the simple fact
that users had to activate the virus themselves by opening a file? What good
are awareness, prevention, antivirus software and precautions if we don’t
follow them? Let’s hope we don’t have to fall back on the one measure that’s completely effective,
leaving the computer off.

All of this invites a dig at Bill Gates’s visit to
the Czech Republic. To be fair, even the mighty Microsoft
can’t do anything about human stupidity. The visit had plenty of media coverage,
so we were fed mostly superficial stories bordering on tabloid fare.
How else to take the news that the world’s richest man
had duck and dumplings for lunch?
Then again, what do you write about a visit meant for a conference on
computer security and an offer of discounted
software and Windows for our schools?

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Or perhaps all that
glitters isn’t gold. Speaking for his ministry, Informatics Minister Mlynář
at least said there was no reason for the state to commit itself to
working with one company this way. Microsoft will, however, continue supporting computer
literacy through projects such as Konto Bariéry’s Computers Against Barriers,
which aims to help people with disabilities find work.