🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <MPG.19d6669c5f702b7898a6c9@enews.newsguy.com>, 
krw@attglobal.net says...
> In article <bkgr52$jrv$0@216.39.172.65>, 
> walterh@cafewalterNOSPAM.com says...
> > "Keith R. Williams" <krw@attglobal.net> wrote in message
> > news:MPG.19d58c8293528ff598a6c3@enews.newsguy.com...
> > > [...] as long as the world runs on M$
> > > trash, we're going to have these problems.
> > 
> > We'll have these problems for longer than that.  Indeed, we'll have these
> > problems for as long as email does more than convey plain text and the
> > Internet supports sending of nonsecure messages.  May I remind folks that
> > MSFT didn't invent the bug, and that the first worms were not on Windows?
> > Virus writers target whatever platform is dominant and powerful enough to
> > propagate the virus.  *All* nontrivial platforms have bugs that can be
> > exploited given enough interest.
> 
> Certainly worms have been around since the beginning of computers 
> (even before email). However OE makes the propagation totally 
> transparent. YOY does anyone make attachment auto-execute even a 
> possibility, much less the default?

the idea is that you can view an image or hear a sound file via 
COM/OLE/ActiveX. the e-mail client is the container for say an image 
viewer. the virus enters as a tweaked MIME type that makes it look like 
a media file. but the freakin' client doesn't check the file extension 
and runs it within the container. just like when IE asks if you want to 
open or save that exe link you clicked. excel spreadsheets, images, 
acrobat files... all can be run in the IE "container" thanks to COM/OLE.

i read somewhere that when the idiots at MS found out that OLE was 
espanol for something good, they changed the name :-)

mike
> 
> Essentialy worms/viruses are allowed to propagate like wildfire 
> because we have such a mono culture.  A little diversity wouldn't 
> hurt, along with a certain software manufacturer that cares 
> something about security.
> > 
> > If you want to not catch viruses, you have two choices: adopt a non-dominant
> > platform (and accept that many programs will not be available to you) or
> > adopt the dominant program, keep it aggressively up to date, and take
> > precautions.  
> 
> The problem with this particular worm is that it's effectively a 
> DoS attack on the entire Internet.  I don't *have* to be infected 
> to have wasted many hours cleaning up.
> 
> > If you want to not receive virus-related mail, you have two
> > choices: don't let anyone know your email (and accept that many people won't
> > be able to reach you easily)
> 
> I won't get a virus if I never power the computer on either. 
> ...hardly a good choice.
> 
> > or install effective filtering mechanisms,
> > ideally upstream from your inbox.
> 
> Which is what I've spent most of today doing.  It's a PITA 
> though.  I finally figured out that they aren't using the "To:" 
> or "CC:" for the address, so I've filtered on these.  It's still 
> a PITA because my ISP doesn't do complex filtering, so I had to 
> do an "OR" by shuffling the email off to another account if it 
> was addressed to me.
> 
>