Upgrading to Windows 7

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

In

Yes it is. Their theory is the lack of security updates is the reason
for the infections. And it is my claim that chasing after security
updates for a security measure isn't very effective. As it is my belief
that a stealth firewall and an updated AV scanner is far, far better
than security updates.

I have found no evidence whatsoever, that an AV scanner cannot stop any
malware getting through a security hole. And if anybody has any studies
about this, evidence, or anything, I sure would like to know about it.

Did Conficker, Sasser, Zotob and many others escape your attention?
All of them spread through systems with up-to-date anti-virus
solutions, but could have been stopped cold by applying the Windows
updates that were available at the time of the outbreak.

And I have been thinking about doing my own studies.

As if an amateur like you could possibly produce a study worth the
attention of the computing world, especially given your stated biases.
The respected and well-regarded security professionals in the industry
today have already studied the issue, and all agree that promptly
applying OS security patches is a critical part of a comprehensive
approach to securing systems.

Although I need a list of malicious websites for testing.

Frankly, I doubt your ability to handle malware safely and responsibly.

And if you noticed, their own data refutes their theory. As the three
Windows versions that no longer gets security updates are the ones that
gets infected less often. So how do you explain that Zaphod?

As others have said, those systems are no longer being targeted. Much
of the malware being written today simply won't run on those systems.
However, unpatched XP systems *are* being targeted, and infected, as
evidenced by the study you cited. Until XP is no longer being
targeted, and malware being written for current Windows versions won't
run on XP, it is still important to apply security updates.

--
Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's
something big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.