security (Re: [plug] email message formats - was Re: [plug] Urgent Sale...sorry about the repeat post)

[Matt Kemner]

On Thu, 21 Dec 2000, The Thought Assassin wrote:

> On Wed, 20 Dec 2000, Scott wrote:
> > Some ppl spend more time worrying about their computer security than their
> > own house.
> I think most people have a fair idea of how to secure their own house, so
> they do what they feel needs doing and forget about it. Computers and
> computer security are constantly changing, so it is something that needs
> ongoing attention.

Not only that, but even in Today's society you can probably leave your
front door unlocked for a day, and there is a significant chance that the
"Bad Guys"(TM) won't know this, because they don't walk up and down every
street every day looking for unlocked doors.  Also, the chance of getting
caught checking every door is great.

On the other hand, if you happen to have a program running with a
remote-root hole, and you are online for long periods, the chances are
great that somebody will find it, and the chances are slim that they will
get caught looking for it.

Also, there was/is a bug in Netscape that can be exploited by sending
a malformed jpeg file, so I don't think Bret is being overly paranoid for
not allowing attachments to be opened automatically by his mailreader.

 - Matt