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Mac Forum / General / Networking / May 2008Help - scared by Java certificate question
I'm a bit put off by the wording of a certificate acceptance dialog asking me to OK it. The file storage and sharing website box.net has a feature that uses a Java applet to allow you to drag-n-drop files from your finder onto their window for upload to your box on their site. When the applet loads you get a pretty standard-looking dialog asking you to trust a certificate. I was ready to give it my OK except it says: "Click Trust to run this applet and allow it unrestricted access to your computer. Click Don't trust to run this applet with standard Java restrictions." That phrase "unrestricted access" is what scares me. I wouldn't give my best friend unrestricted access to my computer, so I'm sure not gonna give it to a commercial website that specializes in file sharing! So I went with "don't trust" with standard Java restrictions, and the drag-n-drop feature did not work. 1. What is "unrestricted access" in this context? 2. What are "standard Java restrictions"? > I'm a bit put off by the wording of a certificate acceptance dialog > asking me to OK it. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > 1. What is "unrestricted access" in this context? It means that Java will not restrict access to files. The underlying OS can and will, so the applet still can only access files that your user account has access to. Which, if you think about it, is necessary since it doesn't know in advance what file you might want to upload. > 2. What are "standard Java restrictions"? Only access to files in the Java sandbox.  SignatureJerry Kindall, Seattle, WA <http://www.jerrykindall.com/> Send only plain text messages under 32K to the Reply-To address. This mailbox is filtered aggressively to thwart spam and viruses. > I'm a bit put off by the wording of a certificate acceptance dialog > asking me to OK it. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > went with "don't trust" with standard Java restrictions, and the > drag-n-drop feature did not work. Keep in mind that any application you download and run on your Mac has the same "unrestricted" access. If Box.net had an application you could download to work with their service, would you use it? Granting the Java applet this access is exactly as safe, and as dangerous. > 1. What is "unrestricted access" in this context? > 2. What are "standard Java restrictions"? By default Java applications on web sites are very restricted in what they can do. Their access to your computer is extremely limited, which means among other things that they can't read or write files on your hard drive. Giving it this access means it can get to your hard drive, which is a necessary part of making their drag and drop scheme work. Whether they deserve the trust this implies is not a question I can answer for you. SignatureTom "Tom" Harrington Independent Mac OS X developer since 2002 http://www.atomicbird.com/ |
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