[52427] in Cypherpunks
Re: POINTCAST - Could it be a Trojan Horse?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mark Aldrich)
Thu Mar 21 08:55:05 1996
My-From: Mark Aldrich <maldrich@grctechs.va.grci.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 08:36:09 -0500 (EST)
From: Mark Aldrich <maldrich@grctechs.va.grci.com>
To: Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <199603210305.TAA26171@ix6.ix.netcom.com>
On Wed, 20 Mar 1996, Bill Stewart wrote:
<snip>
> > There is a new web site http://www.pointcast.com which provides a
> > program file pcninstl.exe. You download pcninstl.exe and run the
> > program on your PC from Windows 95 or Windows 3.1
> >
> > PCN is a program that interfaces to the Internet using port 80 and
> > provides you customizable up-to-the minute downloads of news
> > headlines, stocks, customizable sports, customizable weather,
> > customizable financial, Internet access (HTTP only with this release)
> > and personal (horoscopes and lotteries).
IBM is also running such a service. It's called InfoMarket and it does
the same thing. You load the trojan, uh.., I mean "client," onto your
box, and then it listens to the channels for you and puts up on the
screen the tasty bits that you want. Of course, on a DOS box, it can
also put all sorts of other stuff onto your computer.
And, of course, after the "trial period" you'll be charged to dine at
their info-trough.
( InfoMarket bullshit is at http://www.infomkt.ibm.com/ )
> > Well, Maybe it is too good to be true. This program becomes a proxy
> > operator for you. Downloading, through your firewall, whatever it
> > decides should be downloaded, data, new executables, etc. What is to
> > prevent a hacker (or cracker if you like that term better) from
> > offering a similar product which captures you PC keystrokes and scans
> > your hard drive and uploads information, accesses your LAN or PC
> > functions, or destroys PC files and data.
Thanks for the suggestions. We'll add them to the list....
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| Liberty is truly dead |Mark Aldrich |
| when the slaves are willing |GRCI INFOSEC Engineering |
| to forge their own chains. |maldrich@grci.com |
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