Posted by BigDaddyBS on 09/29/07 21:05

"Jonathan N. Little" <lws4art@centralva.net> wrote in message
news:bcad4$46fe9d18$40cba7bd$25838@NAXS.COM...
> BigDaddyBS wrote:
>
>> But the way I see it, Jonathan, who posted the "fiendish but creative
>> code" just gave phishers, scammers, and malware senders ANOTHER way to
>> get people to go to sites where the sole purpose in life is to cheat the
>> poor slobs who don't see the cheat.
>
> Not really. My code was not that unique, nor creative. Most of the link
> scamming is found in emails. If you allow JavaScript to run in email and
> are dumb enough to click on links within emails, especially from unknown
> sources you deserve what you get!

My point is that there are VERY many people who only know email and get to
the internet BY clicking on links in them. Few of them know to (or HOW to)
check each link, and many of them are scammed every day. Dumb doesn't enter
into it. "Inexperienced" and "naive" do NOT equate to "dumb". SHOULD they
know better? Sure, but many don't, and don't know how to use search engines
to find out about it. Should they have internet access if they are that
naive? Of course. For some people, it's their only contact with the "outside
world". For example, my late grandmother, 91yo - died this year, kept in
contact with her boys, her grandkids and great-grandkids via email and the
occassional IM. And she had our family to tell her what to watch out for.
But there are many who don't have that "backup" to help them. Why should
they have to suffer the losses imposed by the "bad guys"? According to your
statement, they deserve it. I disagree, wholeheartedly!

> Of course it also helps to have client software that shows the status bar
> by default, has option to block JavaScript manipulation of the status bar.
> Punycodes those spoofed URLs...and last but not least a little common
> sense in Layer 8.

Whose common sense? Many people have tons of common sense, but don't know
that much about computers (see above). And again, why should those without
CCS (Computer Common Sense) be made to suffer?

>> From my experience, those who try to hide to where a page links, are
>> trying to pass viruses, spyware, porn, phishing pages, etc., not cheat
>> the search engines. Yes, those of us "in the know" can rollover the link
>> and see the underlying one, and the title, so if a link appears in that
>> attribute that doesn't match, we can be forwarned. But "Average Joe/Jane"
>> user don't realize the implications. (One of the reasons for my Scams
>> info.)
>
>> Please be careful the code you post. (This is one of the first times I've
>> seen this type of questions and full code posted.) - You might just be
>> giving the "bad guys" more ammo! (It's nice to know how its done, but why
>> show THEM?)
>>
>> (Sorry if I come off like being on a "high horse", but GEEZE!)
>
> As I said pure discussion and not very unique. There are much more
> sophisticated was to misdirect a link.

My point there is - unique or not, unsophisticated or not - there are those
HS and younger buttheads who will try anything (no matter who it hurts) for
fun. Why should we TEACH them - give them complete code (as you did) to
screw up other people's lives and computers, and actually EXPLAIN to them
how to do it? Make them search harder, and possibly have to pull the pieces
together themselves. You can qualify it as "pure discussion" if you like,
but that means that someone could post full code for viruses, and get away
with it by saying the same thing. (And I'm sure there are sites and
newsgroups with ALL of that crap on them!) Why make it so easy to find?

> --
> Take care,
>
> Jonathan
> -------------------
> LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
> http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

Jonathan, your motives may have been pure. I'm not slamming you as a person
(don't know you well enough! :-) ), just the posting of actual, full code to
do nasty things, again, no matter how "pure" the original poster (other
newsgroup) meant it.

Ok... I think I've "vented my spleen". All I'm saying is that we think about
what we are posting, and what it could do to those "dumb" people. Huh?

--
bigdaddybs

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