Malicious Web Pages Can Install Dashboard Widgets

Posted by timothy on Sunday May 8, 2005 @09:49AM from the not-good dept.

bonch writes "If you're running Safari on OS X Tiger and go to this website, a 'slightly evil' Dashboard widget will be automatically downloaded and installed and can't be removed without manually removing the file from the Library folder and rebooting the computer. The widget is called Zaptastic and is a demonstration by the author of how easy it is to exploit Dashboard for nefarious purposes. The essay, released under the Creative Commons License, goes on to describe the many ways users can be taken advantage of--imagine porn sites auto-installing adware widgets without your knowledge." So if you're on a Mac, it would be smart to view that page with something other than Safari.

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Re:In soviet russia by NutscrapeSucks · 2005-05-09 16:00 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Glad to see you're on your meds now Basil, but I read your AC posts. Yes, it's not executed, it just sticks an icon for a potentially malicous application in a prominent place. Off to install Tiger!

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Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
Re:In soviet russia by BasilBrush · 2005-05-09 22:43 · Score: 0, Offtopic

What AC posts would those be nucklescraper?