In response to a request from ComputerWorld, I have pieced together a number of facts and informed opinions regarding Microsoft's culpability w.r.t. the ILY worm. This FAQ is online at <http://www.dot.net.au/~rick/ms/culp.html> in a slightly modified form. Here is just the introduction, since the whole thing is about 15KB. MS ILY Virus Culpability FAQ ================================================================================ I have created this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to address your questions. As well, I have provided further background information to act as an addendum to the FAQ. Microsoft has made it very easy to send instructions (a programme) from one PC on the Internet to another. It is difficult to stop that programme from being run on another PC on the Internet, since PC's are enabled by default to do just that. This has given rise to such wide-spread computer virus infections such as Melissa (March 1999) and ILOVEYOU (May 2000). Q. To what extent is Microsoft is to blame for the ILY vulnerabilities and why? A. The vulnerability is due entirely to Microsoft's programming of both the Windows system and the Outlook email application. The two are intricately tied together by Visual Basic (VB), the programming language sent by both Melissa and ILY. VB supports full access to the file system and Internet communications, making it possible to alter and destroy files as well as send emails and contact chat groups, with a few lines of programming code. Consider the following comment paraphrased from a member of the Sydney Linux Users Group (SLUG) mailing list: Microsoft is in the same boat as any manufacturer who doesn't put safeguards into their products, be it seat belts, child-proof bottle caps or safety guards on power machinery. Explicit decisions to elide or avoid safety features when required make Microsoft just as culpable as any company that would follow the aforementioned breaches of safety. [SNIP] See remainder online :) Rick W -- Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services -- SLUG - Sydney Linux Users Group Mailing List - http://www.slug.org.au To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in the text
