IP: Security: Java/activex are not similar at ALL

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From: "David Byrden" <David () Byrden com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
>
>
> > >  BTW, I've never liked the insecurity of the
> > > WWW / Windows/ Active-X/Java  gui net access approach
> > >  Brad
>
>
>         The fact that people are mentioning
> Activex security and Java security in the same
> breath, indicates a failure of popular computer
> journalism to understand and/or report.
>
>         FWIW: an Activex, once you let it into
> your PC, has full permission to do anything it likes;
> e.g. steal, delete or modify data. A Java applet can,
> at worst, overload your PC temporarily by filling
> memory, making too many windows etc.
>
>         Sun's Java binary has undergone the most
> stringent security test of all: the source code has been
> published for all to see. On the other hand, when Microsoft
> were ordered in court to reveal a little Windows source
> code, they claimed that they had lost it.
>
>                                 David