[vox] [OT] Length of time to infect a Windows computer?

[ME]

Richard Crawford said:
> It led me to wonder: how long does is the average Windows PC on-line
> before it's compromised?  I'm sure that it has to do with the user's
> browsing habits and all that and the tightness of the original
> installation, but surely there are numbers on this somewhere?

Working in the IT dept on a class-B network site, I can say that the time
is very small in some cases. Consider the following:

A person has a 1 year old computer they bought from their buddy.
They use the factory build CD to install Windows "as-new"
For our site, even if the person immediately connects to microsoft to
download and install all of the security updates, their machine will be
infected before the upgrades are completed.

The only ways to install and upgrade without infection include:
* Sneaker-net with all updates (difficult, but not impossible)
* setup a filtered network/firewall to block all incoming connections and
protect your windows box while you upgrade.

Pretty sad for a machine to get taken over even if you immediately visit
windowsupdate.microsoft.com after your base install is completed.