wine users - Jan 2009 - We're adware-compatible!

http://philosecurity.org/2009/01/12/interview-with-an-adware-author

The inherent insecurity of Windows is deeply frightening. I hope we
don't emulate it *too* well.


- d.

David Gerard wrote:
> http://philosecurity.org/2009/01/12/interview-with-an-adware-author
>
> The inherent insecurity of Windows is deeply frightening. I hope we
> don't emulate it *too* well.
>
>
>   
This is indeed scary but also very interesting that a programmer at his 
level could exploit Wine.

James McKenzie

I wouldn't put too much stock in the braggings of an ad-ware author. 
Let's see what happens when he sticks a null in the middle of the Wine
registry.

People use Wine to run "must-have" or
"no-equivalent-Linux-program" applications like productivity suites
and games.  There's very little reason to install some crapware screensaver
or the other apps typically bundled with adware.

And, if Wine does get infected (which would say something good about its
compatibility), just blow away the prefix and either recreate it or restore it
from a backup (BackupPC rocks!).  Installing different apps into their own
prefixes makes this even easier.  And, it's not near the hassle that people
go through when a Windows box gets owned.

Gert van den Berg wrote:
> What about the .reg files? They seem like ASCII.... (But it could probably
be UTF-8 as well)
They contain binary data as well only represented in a way readable in ascii (as
byte sequences).