WHMurray@DOCKMASTER.ARPA (06/07/89)
>By requiring that the receiving machine be notified of the transfer, >LapLinks' designers have reduced the chance of malice. Nonsense. To use LapLink one must have control over both the Laptop and the desktop machine. Indeed, what LapLink is designed to do is to permit the transfer of data between COOPERATING PCs. It contains no risk that a PC can transfer data to a non-cooperating PC. LapLink does contain the capapbility to be bootstrapped from, for example, a laptop with 3.5" drives, to a desktop with only 5.25" drives. This capability permits the laptop owner to use a 5.25"-only machine in a distant city even if he forgets to carry a copy of LapLink on 5.25" with him. However, he must be physically connected by cable to the target machine. If yours is the target machine and the source machine is not connected with your permission, then this capability is the least of your worries. This bootstrap capability is more analogous to a LOAD than to a virus or worm. The comparison of this capability to a virus originated with an overzealous reporter. It was not news when he wrote it; it is not news now. The analogy has destroyed any hope that the authors of the program might ever have had for their press release. It has interfered with their legitimate right to publicize their capability. William Hugh Murray, Fellow, Information System Security, Ernst & Whinney 2000 National City Center Cleveland, Ohio 44114 21 Locust Avenue, Suite 2D, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840