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There still is not (AFAIK) much partitioning between apps on most desktop OSes. So even if a malicious app doesn't have admin rights, it still can run under yo
by drewg123 10y ago
There still is not (AFAIK) much partitioning between apps on most desktop OSes. So even if a malicious app doesn't have admin rights, it still can run under your UID, which is almost as bad as it then has access to nearly everything you care about.
Obligatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1200/ https://xkcd.com/1200/
- TazeTSchnitzel 10y agoYeah, user account access is bad enough on its own.
- ultramancool 10y agoPretty much true. As these attackers stated on their own twitter "You ran it as admin, just be glad we didn't steal everything". All it takes is user access to dump all your stored passwords and run, which is what most attackers would do (there are even public tools they can deploy like iStealer that basically do this for them), from there they sell your accounts. From what I gather on their twitter these guys are pretty much doing it for the lulz.
- kalleboo 10y agoApps on OS X that have been installed through the App Store are sandboxed which is pretty close to the partitioning on iOS - for instance they can only access files the user has explicitly given access to (open dialog, double-clicking, drag and drop onto the app). That doesn't help you with apps you downloaded through the web though, which for me is all my apps because the App Store is a PITA.
- dsp1234 10y agoUWP apps installed via the Windows Store have many of the same limitations (can only access own files, runs in a limited security context, etc).
- Zardoz84 10y agoAnd because that, I never allow to my web browser to remember my passwords.
- rvern 10y agoThe application can still get them, it doesn't matter whether they're in a file on your hard drive or typed manually.