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[OM] Re: ( OT ) ebay using malware?

Subject: [OM] Re: ( OT ) ebay using malware?
From: Manuel Viet <oly@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:04:52 +0100
Le mardi 31 Octobre 2006 02:15, Brian Swale a écrit :
> Hi all,
>
> To answer questions, nobody else uses my machine. The only other
> computer-literate person here most of the time is my daughter who has her
> own machine running Windows ME (should be called MS, for all the trouble it
> causes), and she has no interest whatsoever in firing up this device.
>
> My helpful ISP people said they know of no method another ISP could use to
> disconnect my modem; but that malware could do it.  I do know that some
> code, probably pesky javascript (which usually causes problems), does
> cause my favoured browser to crash. That's life.

Careless coding can cause a modem to hang up ; the modem works by spying the 
line that connects it to the computer. Basically, a modem has two modes : 
command and communication. You switch to command mode anytime during a 
communication by sending a "+++" string on the serial line, and then any AT 
command (ATH hangs up, for instance, ATO reverts to communication ; non AT 
commands can cause a modem coma, depending on the microcode of the 
manufacturer). Now, suppose you send that string by mistake in a reply, or 
following an input from a site, and *boom*. Ol'time programmers knew about 
it, but with those youngs javascript kiddies, you never know, because they 
were born with a silver broadband line in the mouth. True malware wouldn't 
hang up, if just not to alarm you ; instead, it would change your calling 
number to one overseas heavily taxed one, for next time you'd dial in.

But just for your safety, stop using Windows 9x (or Me, same thing under a 
more polished disguise, or all windows versions altogether, vista included if 
you were to be really safe <grin>), and if you just can't, at least stop 
using that pity excuse for a webbrowser named Internet Explorer[*] - Firefox 
comes to mind as a drop in, free of charge substitute. Not that FF is 
intrinsically safer (anyway, with the whole underlying system rotten, it 
would be pointless), but it's still a lower profile target as well as a more 
new web 2.0 thingy apt browser.

[*] It probably doesn't sound too polite to put it this way, but I've been 
spending the best part of my computer free assistance during the last 10 
years giving, very politely for people in need of help, advices as to why 
they may wish using something a bit more safe than IE, mostly to no avail. So 
now I'm fed up, and my line of conduct is that anybody hit by anything coming 
through IE or OE desserved it in full, and should be exposed at the pillory 
for complaining, no exception (mum, d'you hear me ?).

-- 
Manuel Viet
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