OFF TOPIC: Re: Virus warning

> On Thu, 26 Mar 1998, Thomas Barclay wrote:

> Allan, I hate to burst your bubble. This is definitely a hoax. It

ActiveX, with its completely missing security, is definitely a risk factor.
The others are at least supposed to be secure... but it's no worse than
browsing the web...

Other "fluff" content can also be used to trace you -- I know of
at least one case where the sender included an innocent-looking link to
a GIF in a HTML formatted email. It's just that this link was unique, so the
sender can check their logs to see where the email was read after the "smart"
email reader automatically loaded the pic... Spamsters could use this to check
which addresses actually read their garbage etc.

> I'm not positive, but it isn't the same world as it once was. The

The more stuff that goes on without the user knowing and/or
understanding, the more control he signs over to an unknown party.
BigBrother(tm) is the first application, HTML spoofing is a possibility, but
I'm sure they'll think of more evil ways soon enough... And this is not some
sorry nerd loser trying get even, this is big money corporations and their big
money lawyers out to empty your wallet.