Jargons of Info Tech industry

[Roedy Green]

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 01:17:45 -0400, Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org> wrote
or quoted :

>
>No, that's what makes email a vector for infection. What makes using
>the address book - for whatever purpose - possible for viruses is
>having an API that allows arbitrary code to access it. But you have to
>have that API - your customers are going to insist that they be able
>to use their address book from third party applications.

An automated change of address is possible today. It would be LESS
easy to pull off under the scheme I proposed that requires digital
signatures.

Yes there are some downsides to a theoretical attack where phony
change of address messages are sent out. They don't propagate. They
don't corrupt. They are self healing when the original guy gets his
virus problem under control.

But you must balance that against the REAL downside of people's
address books being filled with obsolete email addresses.  And of
course one of the reasons they are is people keep changing their email
addresses to hide on spam.  I am just saving as lot of busy work
keeping them up to date.


-- 
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Again taking new Java programming contracts.