Re: POINTCAST - Could it be a Trojan Horse?
Joshua Cole (josh@plan9.itp.eds.com)
Fri, 22 Mar 1996 09:05:10 -0500
At 03:33 PM 3/18/96 -0600, Messages Roswell wrote:
> What are you thoughts and comments? Do you have any concerns with
> products like this? How do you or your company handle these products?
DISCLAIMER: EDS (my company) is a sponsor of Pointcast. However, I have no
association with Pointcast other than as a user.
Here at EDS we have not blocked off access to Pointcast for obvious reasons.
Given the people who work in our computer security section and the folks who
manage our firewalls, I do not believe that they would let Pointcast through
if they thought that it WOULD be used for malicious reasons.
Sure, what you have presented COULD be done. But really, why WOULD a company
whos existence depends on good PR and commercial advertising want to do
something like that?
If Pointcast was an operation that didn't have major companies as sponsors,
I'd be a little leery. But given that Avis, EDS, Quarterdeck and the U.S.
EPA are sponsors, I wouldn't worry too much.
Heck, I'd be more worried about poor implementations of Java interpreters
than Pointcast...
--Joshua Cole
EDS