From: Allan Goodall <agoodall@a...>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 02:00:59 GMT
Subject: Off Topic (I'll keep it short) Re: Virus warning
On Thu, 26 Mar 1998 11:05:12 -0500, Thomas Barclay <Thomas.Barclay@sofkin.ca> wrote: > It I was keeping it simple. You do have a point, but not really with Java. Java shouldn't be able to do anything truly permanent. I think it's technically possible to do it with ActiveX but I haven't heard of this happening so it may not be trully possible. Even opening e-mail in Internet Explorer won't launch ActiveX components in the message by default (as far as I remember). However, there's a setting that allows you to launch a web URL if it's in your e-mail. This allows someone to mail an HTML document that links to their site, and that site could have ActiveX controls that do something nasty. This is more than just theoretically possible. The upshot is that you can't transfer a virus in e-mail. However, if you use your web browser for e-mail then you can run some risks if you don't play with your security settings in your browser. For the uninitiated, I will admit that the distinction is moot. > I'm not positive, but it isn't the same world as it once was. The As far as I know, it hasn't been done. I suspect we'll hear of something nasty in the next year or so. > Frankly, I I do the same. I like to practice safe surfing. > AOL might be a virus.... Hey, I like AOL. If it wasn't for their free AOL start up software CDs, I wouldn't have any coasters in my office.