[UCLA-LUG] my take on the virus...

David Braginsky daveey@ucla.edu
Sat, 6 May 2000 23:49:17 -0700


Explain to me how switching to Unix will solve this problem. Instead of
executing a vb file, they would execute a shell script. Big difference. The
virus would still spread, your personal files would still be damaged. The
only thing Unix would offer is the fact that other's files on the machine
would not be damaged. That however is provided by both nt and 2k. I am not
familiar with the current gui email clients for Unix outside of Netscape,
but I remember both mailtool and exmh made it fairly easy to run attached
shell scripts.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: linux-admin@linux.ucla.edu [mailto:linux-admin@linux.ucla.edu]On
> Behalf Of mike chan
> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2000 11:21 PM
> To: linux@linux.ucla.edu
> Subject: [UCLA-LUG] my take on the virus...
>
>
> my take on the virus... =)
>
> i like how everyone class this a virus... =) its just a program that
> exploits things that are perfectly within a program's ability to do... =)
>
> kinda retarded that an email with vb script would be able to send
> email out
> other users, and people will actually *run* random forwards... =)
>
> the people that were working w/ me had their NT/Win9x machines in the
> *whole* company ravaged by this "virus"... kinda funny to me that a script
> file can cause billions in damage... =) that alone should be enough to
> switch over to a unix based email system... same reason why i think sun
> machines are well worth the money now... everything just works... =) i put
> an adaptec scsi card into my box, and now win2k likes to hang
> about every 4
> hours, and i've wasted countless hours trying to fix it... <sigh>
> ah well.. =)
>
> go linux =p
>
> mike
> snotty e/c
> PGP Key http://www.linuxvalue.com/pgp.html
>
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