MyDoom sparks talks of security's future

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1) The admin/root isssue is the most valid point, but the average home user would still need to have root-level access to install/etc. on their machine. Proper security in Windows would slow them down (and that's a good start), but dumb users will still be dumb enough to type in the admin password or whatever. Finding a way to get proper security to the 6-8 year-old systems that were written when these things weren't an issue, that's another challenge.

2) Don't tell me you bought into that MS lie -- the browser is NOT "deeply" tied into the OS. It's in there more than it should be, perhaps, but "deeply" -- come on. This is also not the issue that spread this trojan.

3) Media Player has some hooks, but Outlook? Again, come on. It's not integrated at all. It might be possible to be more secure (or less) if it was. And again, these are not the issues that caused this thing to spread, and you also left out the main culprit - the user's ZIP program.

4a) Supressing file extensions - agreed, it's not a great idea, but seeing them still only goes to protecting those who understand them; many would still open naked_photo.bmp.exe, either because they simply didn't even bother to check or because they don't know what it means. It would be another good start, though.

4b) ActiveX, in general, and in the browser specifically has issues in its current implementation. No arguments there. But this wasn't what caused this trojan to spread.

4c) Neither VBScript nor integrating apps is a bad idea. The current implemenation is lacking somewhat in security and needs fixing, but integrating apps and a means to do so is generally a GOOD thing. And, yet again, this wasn't the thing that caused this trojan to spread.

This is, first and foremost, an issue with USERS and their behaviors.

Posted by: pschroeder@...   Posted on: 02/03/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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