There are two broad classes of "security" problems
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1) Deliberate attacks - NPAC suffered this 2 years ago when a hacker used a trapdoor to login into a Sun machine and remove all the files on three computers. For Java, these are called "attack applets" by Felten.
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2)Denial of Service: these include internet activities that stop desired use of your computers by hogging resources, invading your privacy or just annoying you! These are called malicious applets by Felten
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NPAC suffered denial of service when a flood of unwanted "junk" email from forged addresses caused some of our servers to go down
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I get annoyed when I or my children get unwanted email advertising pornographic sites
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This is the basis of the recent "Melissa" virus
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