> it's a proof of concept, and soon, very soon it may be dozens of real, > big, nasty virii for macs!
I am the last person in the world to argue that ANY platform was virus proof. I posted an article describing a possible UNIX virus one week before the Internet Worm hit. You can bet I was worried that someone had taken me seriously and I was going to hear a knock on the door from the FBI any day... I was so glad when the Robert Morris story broke. BUT, you're being unreasonably alarmist, *and* you're pointing the finger at the wrong target. This is not analogous to the kind of extension games that are used by viruses like SOBIG, it's a purely social-engineering attack. The majority of Windows viruses are spread because of inherent security flaws in Outlook and Internet Explorer that are not shared by any other platform... even in times and places where Windows has *not* been dominant it has been the dominant target for exploits, because of the fundamental architectural flaws in standard APIs like the one used by the MSHTML control. The real problem is not the particular social engineering this performed, it's applications that trust files recieved from untrusted sources. NO browser or mail program should *ever* automatically execute an unpacker or installer, or mount downloaded or remote file systems. NO unpacker should automatically mount file systems or run installers. These are not just "bad ideas", they are fundamentally unsound. But what Microsoft did when they integrated IE and the desktop is so far beyond this that I an amazed they haven't had people called up on criminal negligence charges over it. -- Unsupported OS X is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Unsupported OS X list info <http://lowendmac.com/lists/unsupported.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/unsupportedosx%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
