Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (1956 mails)

[Mike <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday 07 August 2007 16:50, Hans van der Merwe wrote:

> >
> > She was all freaked out about some phishing emails she got and
> > thought for sure she was infected. (My son had launched AMOR and
> > had dropped her wireless mouse receiver behind the desk. As a
> > result, her mouse movements were jerky and there was this smiling
> > face on the screen. She was sure that was due to the "viruses"
> > she'd obtained.)
> >
> > Keep in mind - unless you're stupid enough to run as root all the
> > time, the worst that can happen is someone may get into your local
> > files or fire off an email.
>
> Why is this not an issue with anyone?  Deleting a normal users data
> is a big thing.  They consider the PC broken if their files
> disappear.

Because my personal files are all backed up. And I don't know how else 
it can be explained. It basically takes 3 actions for the virus to 
work. One it has to get on the system. Two - someone has to make it 
executable. three - then you have to execute it. It's that simple. If 
you do all three of those things, you deserve whatever you get. I mean 
the you in the figurative sense not personal. I doubt a noob would know 
how to make the file executable. They'll click on it and when nothing 
happens it's deleted  

And if you fall for a phishing email, that started this thread, then you 
are in the same boat as the guy that made the virus file executable.

Mike

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