Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!us.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!eu.feeder.erje.net!newsfeed.datemas.de!rt.uk.eu.org!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Roedy Green Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer Subject: Re: U.S. warns on Java software as security concerns escalate Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:34:40 -0800 Organization: Canadian Mind Products Lines: 37 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: Roedy Green NNTP-Posting-Host: K2Qzzs3EAqXk5RLzfhxcSw.user.speranza.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 6.00/32.1186 Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.java.programmer:21419 On Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:47:13 -0800, Patricia Shanahan wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >The scary thing about this is how much it could cost in support service >fees for an ordinary computer user who does not know how to boot in safe >mode etc. After I had done that I ran a Security Essentials which detected it and removed it. I did not run that right off figuring it might trigger its revenge. The full story is at http://mindprod.com/jgloss/scareware.html My next line of defence would have been to boot from a different disk and run the security scan from there. Getting rid of it turned out to be one of the easiest computer problems I ever solved. The very first thing I tried worked. I have backups of all my data and configurations, so the threat of a formatting was not all that terrifying, just onerous reinstalling. I am still puzzled how it got in. I am used to hearing scare stories about Java vulnerabilities, which are just theoretical holes that no one actually got around to exploiting. This one could well be just that. I have my security level low to let me run my own Applets. Security does not distinguish between local, trusted and untrusted sites. It is not on my room mate's machine. Microsoft has a rogues' gallery. They had it described to a T with screenshots, but it did not discus how it attacks. -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time. ~ Tom Cargill Ninety-ninety Law