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.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Liberty is truly dead |Mark Aldrich | | when the slaves are willing |GRCI INFOSEC Engineering | | to forge their own chains. |maldrich@grci.com | | STOP THE CDA NOW! |MAldrich@dockmaster.ncsc.mil | |_______________________________________________________________________| |The author is PGP Empowered. Public key at: finger maldrich@grci.com | | The opinions expressed herein are strictly those of the author | | and my employer gets no credit for them whatsoever. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------