[TriLUG] O.T.--Anybody know if those WebTV boxes are immune to virus attacks?

[ALFRED JOHNSON]

No, thanks for the reassurance. I had googled this question, but I 
wanted to hear from some body who knew a lot more about this hardware 
and software combination. Thanks again. -- al Johnson.
==================
On Aug 2, 2004, at 11:05 PM, Jeff Tickle wrote:

> I do believe Microsoft owns WebTV now... but a WebTV is a lot different
> from a computer, and is therefore immune to Windows viruses in the same
> way that Linux is immune to Windows viruses; they just don't know how 
> to
> execute.
>
> That being said, the WebTV software is written by Microsoft, which
> doesn't exaclty have a good security history.  So, there could possibly
> be WebTV viruses out there, but none that I've heard of.
>
> But as far as the common viruses that you hear of bringing down
> corporate networks and such, no.  Even if WebTV has something like
> "Internet Explorer, WebTV edition," the viral code simply isn't
> executable on that architecture.
>
> I hope this is a bit comforting, but there could be something I don't
> know about.
>
> -Jeff
>
> On Mon, 2004-08-02 at 20:51, ALFRED JOHNSON wrote:
>>     We have a cousin in our family who communicates with us via a 
>> WebTV
>> box. She wanted to know if her WebTV machine could get infected with a
>> computer virus. I believe that that box has Microsoft software in it,
>> but otherwise I don't know anything about it.--- Al Johnson.
> -- 
> Jeff Tickle
>
> http://www.jtsoft.net
> Security and Digital Video Solutions
> Nikken Independent Wellness Consultant
> Probably some other stuff, too!
>
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