Run Only
Run Only
- Subject: Run Only
- From: Rob Jorgensen <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 23:17:02 -0500
Howdy :-)
Keeping in mind that I'm paranoid about running unknown scripts, and
I'm bored...
As far as I know, Mac anti-virus programs don't look inside
AppleScript scripts to check for damaging content. As long as the
loaded script is NOT read-only, this script will look for keywords,
in the text of the loaded script, which may lead to harmful events.
As you can see, this is not a comprehensive list of keywords right
now 'cause I'm just messin' around. I've done very minimal testing so
far, so I'm sure this would need several revisions to be bullet-proof.
FYI: /r = continuation
on open {theScript}
load script theScript
set sText to result as text
if sText contains "delete" or sText contains "trash" or sText
contains "move" /r
or sText contains "empty" then
display dialog "The script may perform harmful events." buttons
("OK") default button 1
else
--run script theScript
end if
end open
Main question: Is there any way to use a script such as this to peek
inside a run-only script (is the script text stored in the
resources?), allowing it to perform a similar keyword check?
-- Begin related but off-topic shtuff --
On a similar note, FileMaker files are another source of concern for
the same reason. They can contain scripts which reach well beyond the
database file(s) in which they are imbedded. In a test, I created an
embedded script which ran on startup of the database. The script
moved common, well known files and folders from the System folder of
the startup disk to the trash, and then emptied the trash with no
confirmation needed. This all happened in the blink of an eye and
some sorry sucker who thought he was getting a free database to keep
track of his girlfriends' phone numbers has now lost critical files
from his system (hypothetically, of course). ;-)
I hesitate to even bring this kind of stuff up in a public forum, but
sticking our heads in the sand is not the way to address security
issues. I'm not a programmer, but I'd sure like to find a workable
solution, aside from common sense and caution regarding unknown files.
-- End off-topic shtuff --
Anywho, thanks for any insight you might provide (no pun intended). :p
Later,
Rob Jorgensen
Ohio, USA