Notepad: The Ultimate Data Corruption Tool
If used by the wrong hands, Notepad could destroy your computer.
Thursday, April 24, 2008 by VistArtXPosed | Discussion: Security
I know that I shouldn't probably even talk about this, but no Windows computer is safe, no matter what OS you're using. Even with the most advanced computer security software, you're not safe. And no, i'm not talking about malware. The ultimate safeguard, delete Notepad and other basic text editors. These programs are tools that even the most inexperienced hackers can use. Notepad can corrupt all non-text files on your PC.
I've tested Notepad on a few copies of certain files, one being a picture, then an executable. These files display nothing but scrambled contents after opening, and the larger the file, the more nonsense you'll see. All it takes is a single-character to be altered, and then saved. No it doesn't save the file as a text document, the actual file's contents have been altered! I don't know why Microsoft let Notepad have the ability to open ANY kind of file. Why didn't they test other file types and realize that any non-text file can become corrupted? Even system files?
The drawback is that Notepad takes forever to load large files, even under 1MB. And all you'll see is a bunch of scrambled contents. And it can only corrupt one file at a time, so it's not worth using.
To really protect your data, either store your files on a remote site, or backup your important data online. As long as there is a file, even if it's a backup file, your computer is at risk for data corruption, all because stupid Microsoft allowed Notepad to open ALL file types. They should only restrict Notepad to Text & Web Pages
Reply #2 Thursday, April 24, 2008 5:12 PM
Now I jsut hope.
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Reply #1 Thursday, April 24, 2008 4:49 PM
It's just the concept of a text editor that makes it "corrupt." And anyway, a hacker would attack the files directly by changing those 1's and 0's with their own program, not through Notepad. It's just the nature of a text editor that you would be able to open any type of file and see what those 1's and 0's represent in symbols and change the symbols.