And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: "John Russell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> supplies: 'A Flaw Worse Than Melissa' by Declan McCullagh 4:50 p.m. 26.Aug.99.PDT WASHINGTON -- A team of computer scientists has discovered a bug in tens of millions of Microsoft Windows computers that lets an attacker take control of a PC by sending an email message. The security hole, present in most copies of Windows 95 and all versions of Windows 98, would allow a malcontent to conceal malicious computer code in an email message or Web page that can surreptitiously modify files, reformat a hard drive, or execute any DOS command. "It's the Melissa virus, but even worse," says Dan Wallach, an assistant professor of computer science at Rice University who is one of the team members. "The Melissa virus required someone to click 'OK.' This doesn't." Microsoft has acknowledged the backdoor. This week, after the researchers contacted the company, it released an upgraded version of its Java virtual machine that fixes the problem. But the tens of millions of Windows users who have not downloaded the patch and have not disabled Java remain vulnerable to anyone who knows the technical details of the bug. At risk are Windows users who read email using programs like Outlook, Outlook Express, and Qualcomm's Eudora that use Microsoft's viewing software and have fairly recent versions of its Java virtual machine. A Trojan Horse sent via email will be executed as soon as the message is viewed -- without any prompting. Web browsing with Internet Explorer 4.0 and 5.0 can be dangerous if users click on a Web site with malicious Java -- but Netscape's browsers are immune. "If you use Navigator, you're not vulnerable to this attack," says Rice University's Wallach. < snip > http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/21459.html Download link for Updated Java virtual machine: http://download.microsoft.com/download/javasdk/install/3186/w9xnt4/en-us/msj avx86.exe ****************************************************** It is hard to follow one great vision in this world of darkness and of many changing shadows. Among these shadows men get lost. Black Elk Free Leonard Peltier Justice for Anna Mae ******************************************************
