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Oracle Tips by Burleson |
Web Stalkers
Chapter 11 - Internet Spies
Privacy Breeches on the PC
Some of the ineffective default settings are:
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Web browsers that allow Active-X controls
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Some web browsers will be default configured to allow for automatic
execution of programs with Active-X controls. This means that if a
web page is encountered with an Active-X control at the site, the
browser will automatically execute them. A hacker can anonymously
email a link to a web page with an Active-X control programmed to
transfer Spyware. If the e-mail recipient clicks on the link and
their Active-X enabled web browser goes to the site, they will
become the proud owner of a shiny new piece of Spyware. Many of the
more recently released browsers such as Foxfire and the Apple
Macintosh browser have disabled the Active-X controls.
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E-mail allows automatic execution of script
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Another preferred method of gaining access to private information is
to send anonymous emails with scripts contained within them. When
the email is opened, the script will run. If the script is a Spyware program, the computer has just been opened up like a book to
whoever sent the email.
There is virtually no limit to the type or
amount of information that can be retrieved from a computer. Some
machines are considered particularly easy to hack or plant Spyware
on. A Windows XP machine running the default security settings and
connected to the Internet has been dubbed a “honeypot” by the bad
guys.
Apple computers on the other hand are regarded
as very difficult to break into and are immune to many common
hacking methods.
Spyware and advertising may not seem to have a
lot in common on the surface, but, as the next section will show, in
some ways they are very similar.
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For more details and scripts, see my new book "
Oracle
Tuning: The Definitive Reference", over 900 pages
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instant access to the code depot. |
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