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This is NOT a virus. Getting a program to execute without the user's explicit intent is at best a Trojan horse, and as long as you have the ability to alter the runtime environment, you can do this ON ANY SYSTEM.
Ugh. I've been talking to too many non-computer people lately, and now I'm starting to talk like them. You're absolutely right, I didn't mean "virus" in the technical sense of the word. I meant malware in general. The stuff that a "virus scanner" (which actually scans for trojans, worms, viruses and various other malware) would scan for.
I agree with you that Windows is much less secure than i5/OS. The underlying design of i5/OS involves security at a much lower level, resulting in a much, much more secure system. Indeed, I've compared Windows security to lying naked on the freeway.
My point, however, is that it's possible to write malware that can affect i5/OS. Granted, you need to use a CRTxxx/RSTxxx or access to an equivalent API to generate a native *PGM object, but you can modify PASE programs, Java classes, or any interpreted language without creating a *PGM object.
If your security is perfect, I won't be able to modify those. But, malware (viruses, worms, etc) don't generally target a specific computer. Instead, they search out computers or applications that have a particular weakness. They keep looking until they find one, then they infect it.
Just because you're running i5/OS, and just because nobody has written one, it doesn't mean that you're immune to them. Be vigilant!
I'm sure YOU already are, Joe. But you're not the only one reading this message.
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