[Info-vax] "Shanghai Stock Exchange" and OpenVMS

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <006a5f36$0$14763$c3e8da3 at news.astraweb.com>,
	JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> writes:
> Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> 
>> Once upon at time the mad race to "steal" software fueled the flow of 
>> virii via floppy disks.  While it's still possible, to propagate a virus 
>> in this way, I don't think it's anywhere near as common as it used to be!
> 
> Actually, even since Microsoft came up with the bright idea of having
> that autorun.inf thing on disks because it was so complex for Microsoft
> users to start an application from a CD, it has made Windows such an
> easy target for malicious software that it isn't funny.
> 
> The decision on what aplication to run should be made by the computer,
> not by some bit on a disk you have just inserted in your computer.

Always has been and still is.  It is a simple task to shut off AutoRun.
Lots of things that were considered acceptable risks in the past are
no longer considered safe.  Heck, I remember when people had accounts
without passwords becasue we trusted each other to not violate our
personal space.  hardly a safe practice today.  :-)

bill

-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>