4 ms·
Yeah AV had its heyday when we didn't have 24/7 net connections (a problem all its own, i am starting to think) and "infections" happened by way of boot sectors
by digi_owl 10y ago
Yeah AV had its heyday when we didn't have 24/7 net connections (a problem all its own, i am starting to think) and "infections" happened by way of boot sectors and modified binaries.
These days however, infections happen more and more via "clever" interpreted code that can be embedded in just about anything. You best bet for killing a whole lot of crap online is basically to turn off JS.
This because http delivered JS is the best way to get past the firewall, that in turn is a blunt, but effective, way at stopping various network born crap.
- JdeBP 10y agoThere are interpreters for programs that are delivered over the network to be run locally by the unsuspecting user, in some surprising places. For example: Here's a sound player that contains an entire 6502-based virtual machine, because the "sound file format" that it "plays" is actually an executable program. Unfortunately, the virtual machine hardware is not properly simulated, allowing the 6502 code to memory-map parts of the virtual machine manager itself using the virtual memory controller hardware and alter them. * http://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/0day-exploit-compromising-linux-desktop.html http://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/0day-exploi... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12951503 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12951503)
- kuschku 10y agoAnother example: > Essentially, a WMF file stores a list of function calls that have to be issued to the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) layer to display an image on screen. Since some GDI functions accept pointers to callback functions for error handling, a WMF file may erroneously include executable code.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Metafile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Metafile