Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 17:55:19 +0200
To: IETF general mailing list <ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
From: Jacob Palme <jpalme(_at_)dsv(_dot_)su(_dot_)se>
Subject: Re: VIRUS WARNING
[...]
I have
set my MS Office programs to always ask me before running a
macro in an unkown file in it. The advantage is less risk for
viruses, but the disadvantage is that I have to OK those
questions from MS Office of whether to accept macros. And
if they occur too open, there is a risk that I click "yes"
before thinking through the risk of doing this.
[...]
Other disadvantages include:
o You have very little basis upon which to make a decision. You
can decide based upon whether you trust the sender (which isn't
much to go on, as shown by the recent batch of Outlook viruses),
but you can't decide based on whether the macro might damage
your system.
o Once you click "yes", there is apparently little limit to the
damage that the macro can do, (if it isn't executing in a well-
constructed sandbox).
-tjs