Re: Can iTunes run AppleScript as well as Trojan code?
Re: Can iTunes run AppleScript as well as Trojan code?
- Subject: Re: Can iTunes run AppleScript as well as Trojan code?
- From: Graff <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 00:52:53 -0400
I believe that this actually doesn't have to do with iTunes, it has to
do with a clash between meta-data and file extensions. Apparently the
Finder will use the file type meta-data to determine if a file is an
application but it will display the file according to its file
extension. So you can have a file that looks like an MP3 file but runs
like an application if has a File Type of "APPL" and you change its
name from blah.app to blah.mp3.
The part about it opening in iTunes and acting like an MP3 looks to be
a side affect of the file having proper ID3 tags. According to what
I've read this type of trojan can't do anything at all to iTunes, it's
when you try to open the file directly through the Finder or some other
launcher program that the trojan comes into effect. The ID3 tags are
just there to further throw you off.
To see a safe example of this in action try taking a program such as
OmniWeb. Copy it to the Desktop, get info on it in the Finder and
using the "Name & Extension" part of the info window rename it to
"blah.mp3" It will run just fine even though it has an MP3 file
extension. Put a custom icon on it that looks like the Finder icon for
an MP3 and you now have an application that looks like an MP3 file.
This is part of the reason Apple really should get off the fence and
either make file extensions merely cosmetic or completely ditch type
and creator codes. Personally I'm leaning towards making file
extensions cosmetic, meta-data is just so much more useful in my
opinion.
- Ken
On Apr 8, 2004, at 7:37 PM, Martin Orpen wrote:
Looks like iTunes can't tell the difference between a document file
and an
application file :-(
http://www.macnn.com/news/24162
A sample of the viral mp3 is here (URL broken, so that you can give it
some
thought before clicking):
http://www.scoop.se/
~blgl/virus.mp3.sit
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