Re: AppleScript and Email clients
Re: AppleScript and Email clients
- Subject: Re: AppleScript and Email clients
- From: Phi Sanders <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 21:22:10 -0500
On the Mac there has YET to be a case of a plain-text virus, like there
HAVE BEEN on Windows systems running Microsoft email products. It works
because M$ implemented their client to automatically execute certain
classes of text files that contain source code. The intention was good,
but they didn't think the consequences through and that's how the road
gets paved...
Quotes from Sophos Anti Virus :
>
The virus sends itself as an email attachment, the name of which is
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either the original name of the infected file or a randomly generated
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name. It uses one of the following extensions: COM, BAT, PIF and EXE.
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Sometimes it also attaches additional GIF, DOC or TXT files to the email.
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The email uses a known exploit in certain versions of Outlook Express 5
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in order to launch the attached file automatically.
As soon as a person views the message - without opening the attachment -
it is executed. This behavior was the default when the troublesome
products shipped, although I believe it has been changed now. At any
rate, there is no technical reason the same cannot happen on the Mac - an
equivalent hole has simply never been created to be taken advantage of.
~Phi
In a message sent on 2002, January 07, Monday @ 8:42 PM, by Paul Berkowitz :
>
I put it wrong. You had to open the document. Although Word and Excel have
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long had a preference to warn you about embedded macros before opening the
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documents, it didn't cover RTF documents opened there, only Word and Excel
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docs with their creator codes. Someone found out he could send an RTF doc
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and Excel wouldn't put up the warning, the doc would just open. Then an
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auto-start macro could start up. That has now been blocked by applying the
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patch.
>
>
But even in that case, you had to double-click the attachment for anything
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to happen. You're still safe if you don't do that.
>
>
--
>
Paul Berkowitz
>
>
> From: Xandra Lee <email@hidden>
>
> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 20:27:35 -0500
>
> To: "Paul Berkowitz" <email@hidden>, "Applescript-Users"
>
> <email@hidden>
>
> Subject: Re: AppleScript and Email clients
>
>
>
> Huh??
>
> How is it possible for a text-only eMail App to activate a virus?
>
>
>
> As eMailer nears its eminent demise, I keep eyeing Entourage - but I
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> remain very nervous about it's direct link to Word (the prime reason to
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> use it). This link in itself something of a risk.
>
>
>
> For now I use eMailer - anything other than pure text (even VCCards) is
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> quietly deposited in my chosen folder. Near as I can tell there's no way
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> to activate anything simply by reading a message in a text only eMail
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> client. I have to manually open all attachments (which I'd never do
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> without first scanning)s.
>
>
>
> I have Stuffit / and IE set to never auto unstuff anything. My Helper
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> settings are configured so that all MS office items (word docs, excel
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> templates - etc. -are "saved to file" (again to the same folder) rather
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> than post-processed.
>
>
>
> I thought this would cover it But you've got me concerned -- how could an
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> eMail attachment (or inline script for that matter) run without user
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> intervention in pure-text eMail client.
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>
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul Berkowitz, email@hidden wrote:
>
>
>
>> the
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>> viruses would affect Word and Excel no matter which Mac email client
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>> received the email containing them. They find Word and Excel by creator
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>> code, just like we all do. If you don't buy any MS products, you
won't have
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>> to worry about this, and if you do have Word and Excel, then you obviously
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>> have Entourage too and just need to get the security patch for Word and
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>> Excel.
>
>
>
>
>
> Alixandra Leigh
>
> AceDesign
>
> email@hidden
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
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>
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>
> Renderings:
>
>> <http://home.rochester.rr.com/alexleighs/interiors/interiors.htm>
>
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