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Caligula Virus Exposes PGP Flaw (?)
lc writes "There is some kind of macro virus
floating around that steals PGP keys off a user's computer and
uploads them to a remote FTP site. " So a macro
virus is a flaw in PGP? Neat. Methinks if you've got macro
virus's running rampant in your machine, you've got bigger
problems. Like Word for example.
I cannot help but to admire the way some of our more technologically clueless media personas enjoy spreading their ignorance to the masses.
The "Caligula" virus does not exploit any flaws in PGP. It doesn't even exploit flaws in operating systems. Its behaviour mimics that of a user (since it is a macro - a collection of user commands). If a user can upload their PGP key to an ftp server, so can any macro on any operating system.
This is yet another simple case of some clueless person "enlightening" others to the realities of the technological world.
I cannot stand to watch persons in positions of relative trust spew this ignorant drivel at anyone who is willing to listen. It is wrong. Those who write articles about technology should at least have an understanding of the technology they're talking about, especially when they make derogatory comments such as these.
Technology is not to be feared. These pompous fools who choose to spread technically inaccurate information should be beaten, or at least have their hard discs erased, for causing such paranoia among common people.
I don't understand where the flaw in PGP comes in.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I recall, you can throw your private keyring anywhere you want, and as long as your passphrase isn't something idiotic like your name, your data is completely safe.
As far as these virus writers go, they are by no means idiots. The FTP upload is a fairly elegant idea, and of course they have to deny that the virus got out on purpose.
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