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In the past there were many applications and also games where you could connect to via telnet.
Back then viruses were not THAT far spread and used as they are now. What I'm wondering about is: Nowadays you can contract computer viruses by running the wrong file, visiting the wrong page, or opening the wrong mail. IS it also possible to contract a virus via telnet by just contacting the "wrong" address? (thus instead of the game server (MUD as example) you connect to a program that transmits a virus to your pc without you knowing).
You could contract a virus by simply turning your computer on. What you are asking is if telnet is absolutely secure from malicious attack. And the answer is obviously no. There could be bugs, zero day exploits, etc. so regardless even if the technology is supposedly “secure” there are always possibilities. – Appleoddity – 2019-03-10T23:46:26.973
1You are not going to infect your machine by simply making a telnet connection. – Ramhound – 2019-03-11T00:04:46.333
There were viruses in the days of telnet being predominant (instead of SSH) and there were no viruses conveyed via telnet. That doesn’t mean there might not be some kind of exploit, but I highly doubt it. – JakeGould – 2019-03-11T01:22:44.443