Sebastian Gottschalk wrote:
> kurt wismer wrote:
>
>> perl is not the only complicating factor, many tools are scriptable in
>> some sense these days... ms word or alternatively open office are
>> susceptible to viruses - are you going to disallow opening documents too?
>
> Let's see. Not just that you can disable macros based on certain
> conditions, these macro languages are not powerful enough to load arbitrary
> code. VBA for example uses Shell32::LoadLibraryEx() to load additional
> modules, which is already covered by Software Restriction Policies.

a) vba only applies to ms word, not to open office...
b) those were just the most mainstream examples of apps that can be
turned into operating environments for viruses - some more obscure
examples include amipro, matlab, and ida pro... again, those are just a
few more examples - i'll not post an exhaustive list because the apps
that fall into this category are legion...
c) even if it were actually possible to block execution of all
executable content in user writable areas (which i specify because you
would obviously need to still allow execution from system areas which
the user would presumably not have write access to) that would
necessarily impede with any ability the user might have otherwise had to
automate his/her tasks....

>>>> they can be valuable additions to a defense in depth approach, but they
>>>> are not, by themselves, a solution to the virus problem...
>>> They are. Trivially.
>> it's interesting that you think a problem widely known to be unsolvable
>
> Huh? It's a problem that is known to be trivially solvable.

according to which recognized expert in the field?

fred cohen's seminal work in the field revealed that the ability to
support viral programs is inherent to the general purpose computing
platform - meaning that there is no way to manipulate a general purpose
computer (or the os or policies enforced by it), short of making it not
a general purpose computer anymore, that will stop all possible viruses
from operating - ergo the problem is not solvable...

>> has such a strait-forward solution...
>
> Indeed, it has. That's why you should wonder why so many people suggest
> totally incompetent, slow and dangerous solutions.

the only thing i'm wondering is where you come up with some of the stuff
you post... i'm getting a strong sense that false authority syndrome is
at play here...

--
"it's not the right time to be sober
now the idiots have taken over
spreading like a social cancer,
is there an answer?"