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Desktop Search Tools Will Help Virus Writers

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the helping-the-hurters dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With desktop search tools all the rage, ZDNet is reporting that virus writers could take advantage of the technology to produce more efficient malware. "Any software that can index and capture data on a users PC will be subject to virus and Trojan exploits. It is just a matter of time," said an analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "

3 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Taking Advantage by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sure the best time is durring a power failure. With the UPSs just powering the needed equiptment. Most of the monitors are off just the Computer And the network gear running on Solo. Cross Link your virus with the APC software when the power goes out you know no one will be looking so start up your virus take 100% of the CPU and do your thing.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  2. Re:P2P+Desktop Search by cassidyc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    already happens, a misconfigured Kazaa will share your entire drive :)

    Try firing it up (or an adware light version) and looking for "inbox", then select any individual one and you can then search for all that persons shared files.

    Nosey, who me...?

    CJC

  3. Re:Please.. don't shoot the messenger by uptownguy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Desktop search is only exposing a weakness that is already there as it can only index stuff it has permission to index.

    I understand that this is technically true -- but did you know Google Desktop Search can do some pretty nasty things -- things like indexing all of the Word files on your computer? If one of them happens to be password protected, you click on the link and it asks for the password. But if you click on CACHED copy -- poof, there is the entire document, right there in your web browser. Whoops. Don't even get me started on cached copies of deleted files...

    Google Desktop Search is powerful -- and is only indexing what is already there, true, true, all true...but still -- when it gets easy enough that someone like me can quickly and easily poke around and look at things I'm not supposed to... well, that's scary.

    --


    I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.