On Sep 4, 2009, at 3:05 PM, George R. Hozendorf wrote:
> > We all know how low the chance of getting a virus is on a Mac. Zero. > But, > how vulnerable am I to prying eyes if I leave my browser open when not > at the machine or when the Mac is sleeping? If the prying eyes are physically present at the Mac, very. If not? Not likely. All a browser does (any browser) is send a request to a server for a text file (which itself may make your browser call for a bunch of other files.) Then it displays them on your screen. There are tricksy ways to get information out of your computer while doing this, but this all occurs at the time it's being loaded, presumably while you're there clicking on the link. A browser just sitting there isn't going to do anything. You can get autorefresh going, then there's the remote possibility that some malicious site could cause a problem with the 3rd or 4th refresh, but that's a very low profit way of infecting a system. Like viruses, web-based malware only affects Windows systems. I've seen a few proof-of-concept hacks that affect Macs, too, but they've not become widespread...even if you could successfuklkly plant malware on a Mac getting it activated and running as an admin is very difficult. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
