I find
Visual Basic for Applications intriquing since not only did it replace application specific
macro programming languages, it gave rise to the first
cross platform virus; this came to most peoples attention in the form of the
MS Word conceptvirus.
Not only was this the first virus that could be distributed my
email, this was the first known virus that could propogate from
PCs to
Macs; before this virus' were
platform specific, infecting their hosts only at the very lowest levels of the system.
The original implementation of this virus was
benign, the
anonymous author choosing to only create a stub named, appropriately enough,
payload, with the
terse but suggestive comment
"that's enough to prove my point".
And make a point he did! A entire
generation of
script weenies have seized upon M$ usual
bullshit buggy and
security free implemenation of what is otherwise a good idea, to create a whole
universe of
derivative - not to mention destructive -
viri.
And
Microsofts solution? Rather than do it the right way, creating a
virtual machine with an intrinsic
security mechanism inside applications where said VBA executes
(gee, does this sound familiar?) they now offer a
modal dialogue box to the user, advising her to
turn off macros.
Elegant.