Uh-oh...

[Tony Hammitt]

Synopsis:  There may be 'spyware' on 'doze boxes that is reporting
all sorts of info on users.  This spyware may be in the form of
desktop toys.

Yes, this would be pretty scary for busineses.  Yet another reason
to use Linux.

But do we need to go so far as to have all busineses employing PFY's
to run packet sniffers looking for uninvited data?  There is pretty
much no way to know whether the data that is leaving the local
network contains valuable data if that data is encrypted.  I guess
we'll have to monitor the network usage of all of the programs
somehow.  Can BackOrifice do this for windoze?  It seems like the
kind of tool that would have this functionality...

As I've mentioned before, even 'tar' opens network connections, but
just to the NIS system to check on what usernames to assign to
files.  It seems like this kind of behavior is going to get more
common.  Where should we draw the line?

We, the Open Source community, should set the standard for
respecting the privacy of the users.  If we send tracking data
somewhere, the user should be told and given a chance to object. 
Just my opinion.

Have a good evening,

	Tony

P.S. I'm glad that I missed out on the latest flamewar.  Usually I
start them (always with the best intentions), it's a nice change...

Lowell wrote:
> 
> czech it out:
> 
>         http://www.boardwatch.com/bw/mar01/Mean_Streets.htm
> --
> "My reality check just bounced!"