Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:
Uwe Schilling: Update Manager doesn't ask for your password unless and until 
you actually click "Install Updates". So you would then be relying on people to 
think "Well, it's asking me for my password just like it usually does when I 
click that button, but I won't enter it this time because I didn't open the 
window myself to begin with". That seems far too indirect and obscure to be a 
realistic defence.

I don't understand the point you are making here. Of course, people
first have to click the "Install Updates" button, but that doesn't make
any difference. I'll try to clarify my point: suppose some malvolent
webpage opens a pop-up which looks just like the update manager, telling
you that there are updates to application xyz. Since the real update
manager also opens via a pop-up process, people will not suspect
anything and click on the "Install updates" button, not noticing that
this is actually a webbrowser window and then enter their password when
asked for it. In this way, the webpage gets your system password for
free and can do whatever it wants with it, be it a login via ssh or
installing a key logger or whatever.

My point is that many people will not notice that it is not the "real"
update manager appearing on the screen, because the pop-up window just
looks like it. And  since the real update manager now also opens via
pop-up, the they won't even be suspicious and type in their password. If
it really had been the "real" update manager, they will probably never
get to know....

-- 
[Jaunty] Update Notifier icon would provide useful status information
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/332945
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