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VIRUS-L Digest Friday, 5 Jan 1990 Volume 3 : Issue 5
Today's Topics:
Gatekeeper/Disinfectant Problem! (Mac)
Re: Virus Trends (and FAXes on PCs)
SCANV53 (PC)
Introduction to the anti-viral archives
UNIX anti-viral archive sites
Apple II anti-viral archive sites
Atari ST anti-viral archive sites
Amiga anti-viral archive sites
Macintosh anti-viral archive sites
IBMPC anti-viral archive sites
Documentation anti-viral archive sites
Uses of MACs Against Viruses
VIRUS-L Digest V3 #4
VIRUS-L is a moderated, digested mail forum for discussing computer
virus issues; comp.virus is a non-digested Usenet counterpart.
Discussions are not limited to any one hardware/software platform -
diversity is welcomed. Contributions should be relevant, concise,
polite, etc., and sent to VIRUS-L@IBM1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (that's
LEHIIBM1.BITNET for BITNET folks). Information on accessing
anti-virus, document, and back-issue archives is distributed
periodically on the list. Administrative mail (comments, suggestions,
and so forth) should be sent to me at: krvw@SEI.CMU.EDU.
- Ken van Wyk
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 90 12:04:00 -0400
From: Michael Greve <GREVE@wharton.upenn.edu>
Subject: Gatekeeper/Disinfectant Problem! (Mac)
I originally sent out this message on MACNET but nobody could help.
We have a networked lab with 16 machines. We have both Gatekeeper and
Gatekeeper Aid. We are currently using Disinfectant 1.5. We can use
Disinfectant to check each machine for viruses but when we actually
try and disinfect a machine we get a Gatekeeper violation message. I've
set Gatekeeper correctly but still it won't let me disinfect. I used
the Gatekeeper settings that are mentioned in the about section of
Disinfectant. Still it will not work. The only way I can disinfect the
lab machines is to boot up off a floppy (that doesn't have Gatekeeper on
it) and then run disinfectant. This can be a hassle on the consultants
machine when students come in and have various viruses on their disks.
We also have SAM and have set that in Gatekeeper but still get the
same message when trying to disinfect. Any ideas, help or assistance
would be greatly appreciated.
Michael Greve
U. of Pa.
Wharton Computing
greve@wharton.upenn.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 17:40:26 +0000
From: ras@rayssdb.ssd.ray.com (Ralph A. Shaw)
Subject: Re: Virus Trends (and FAXes on PCs)
Nagle@cup.portal.com says:
> - A FAX message is a bitstream interpreted by an interpreter at
> the receving end. Could it be induced to do something interesting
> through the use of illegal bit patterns? Group III is probably too
> simple to be attacked, but group IV? Imagine a message which
> causes a FAX machine to send an extra copy of transmitted documents
> to another location.
Something that has come to the attention of security paranoids here
lately is that some manufacturers of PC FAX boards have added a
feature that allows the FAX modem to be used as a bisync modem to
communicate with the PC directly, rather than transmitting just FAXes.
I assume the PC would have to be running some software to enable it
and reassign the console (requiring local intervention), but a
networked PC could then prove to be a leak onto the corporate network,
(or at least, for handy distribution of the Trojan-of-the-month program).
Added to this is the promise that at least one FAXboard vendor
promises that both async and bisync modem capability will be available
in the future.
I don't have the details of which boards provide this "feature",
or of what functionality is really there via this inboard modem
and accompanying software, but will pass on any other details I can
ferret out.
- --
Ralph Shaw ras@rayssd.ray.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 90 10:24:40 -0800
From: Alan_J_Roberts@cup.portal.com
Subject: SCANV53 (PC)
The following is forwarded from John McAfee:
SCAN Version 53 has a serious problem with false alarms on the 4096
virus. The version was unfortunately included in the last-minute monthly
FidoNet distribution and is therefore in the hands of a lot of people. If
you have version 53 of SCAN please do not use it. Version 54 is available
on CompuServe, Homebase and most of the Fidonet hubs. My apologies to
anyone inconvenienced by my error.
John McAfee
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:26:11 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: Introduction to the anti-viral archives
# Introduction to the Anti-viral archives...
# Listing of 03 January 1990
This posting is the introduction to the "official" anti-viral archives
of VIRUS-L/comp.virus. With the generous cooperation of many sites
throughout the world, we are attempting to make available to all
the most recent news and programs for dealing with the virus problem.
Currently we have sites for Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, IBMPC, Macintosh
and Unix computers, as well as sites carrying research papers and
reports of general interest.
If you have general questions regarding the archives, you can send
them to this list or to me. I'll do my best to help. If you have a
submission for the archives, you can send it to me or to one of the
persons in charge of the relevant sites.
If you have any corrections to the lists, please let me know.
The files contained on the participating archive sites are provided freely
on an as-is basis.
To the best of our knowledge, all files contained in the archives are either
Public Domain, Freely Redistributable, or Shareware. If you know of one
that is not, please drop us a line and let us know. Reports of corrupt
files are also welcome.
PLEASE NOTE
The Managers of these systems, and the Maintainers of the archives, CAN NOT
and DO NOT guarantee any of these applications for any purpose. All possible
precautions have been taken to assure you of a safe repository of useful
tools.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:31:23 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: UNIX anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral and security archive sites for Unix
# Listing last changed 30 September 1989
attctc
Charles Boykin <sysop@attctc.Dallas.TX.US>
Accessible through UUCP.
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>
sauna.hut.fi
Jyrki Kuoppala <jkp@cs.hut.fi>
Accessible through anonymous ftp, IP number 128.214.3.119.
(Note that this IP number is likely to change.)
ucf1vm
Lois Buwalda <lois@ucf1vm.bitnet>
Accessible through...
wuarchive.wustl.edu
Chris Myers <chris@wugate.wustl.edu>
Accessible through anonymous ftp, IP number 128.252.135.4.
A number of directories can be found in ~ftp/usenet/comp.virus/*.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:29:54 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: Apple II anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral archive sites for the Apple II
# Listing last changed 30 September 1989
brownvm.bitnet
Chris Chung <chris@brownvm.bitnet>
Access is through LISTSERV, using SEND, TELL and MAIL commands.
Files are stored as
apple2-l xx-xxxxx
where the x's are the file number.
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
The Apple II index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: apple
topic: index
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>
uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft
Steve Jenkins <pdsoft@uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft>
Service for UK only; no access from BITNET/Internet/UUCP
Terminals : call lancs.pdsoft, login as "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft"
FTP : call lancs.pdsoft, user "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft".
Pull the file "help/basics" for starter info, "micros/index" for index.
Anti-Viral stuff is held as part of larger micro software collection
and is not collected into a distinct area.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:30:11 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: Atari ST anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral archive sites for the Atari ST
# Listing last changed 30 September 1989
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
The Atari ST index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: atari
topic: index
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
panarthea.ebay
Steve Grimm <koreth%panarthea.ebay@sun.com>
Access to the archives is through mail server.
For instructions on the archiver server, send
help
to <archive-server%panarthea.ebay@sun.com>.
uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft
Steve Jenkins <pdsoft@uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft>
Service for UK only; no access from BITNET/Internet/UUCP
Terminals : call lancs.pdsoft, login as "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft"
FTP : call lancs.pdsoft, user "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft".
Pull the file "help/basics" for starter info, "micros/index" for index.
Anti-Viral stuff is held as part of larger micro software collection
and is not collected into a distinct area.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:29:34 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: Amiga anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral archive sites for the Amiga
# Listing last changed 30 September 1989
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
The Amiga index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: amiga
topic: index
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>
ms.uky.edu
Sean Casey <sean@ms.uky.edu>
Access is through anonymous ftp.
The Amiga anti-viral archives can be found in /pub/amiga/Antivirus.
The IP address is 128.163.128.6.
uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft
Steve Jenkins <pdsoft@uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft>
Service for UK only; no access from BITNET/Internet/UUCP
Terminals : call lancs.pdsoft, login as "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft"
FTP : call lancs.pdsoft, user "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft".
Pull the file "help/basics" for starter info, "micros/index" for index.
Anti-Viral stuff is held as part of larger micro software collection
and is not collected into a distinct area.
uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
Mark Zinzow <markz@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
Lionel Hummel <hummel@cs.uiuc.edu>
The archives are in /amiga/virus.
There is also a lot of stuff to be found in the Fish collection.
The IP address is 128.174.5.54.
Another possible source is uihub.cs.uiuc.edu at 128.174.252.27.
Check there in /pub/amiga/virus.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:31:05 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: Macintosh anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral archive sites for the Macintosh
# Listing last changed 07 November 1989
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
The Mac index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: mac
topic: index
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>
ifi.ethz.ch
Danny Schwendener <macman@ethz.uucp>
Interactive access through DECnet (SPAN/HEPnet):
$SET HOST 57434 or $SET HOST AEOLUS
Username: MAC
Interactive access through X.25 (022847911065) or Modem 2400 bps
(+41-1-251-6271):
# CALL B050 <cr><cr>
Username: MAC
Files may also be copied via DECnet (SPAN/HEPnet) from
57434::DISK8:[MAC.TOP.LIBRARY.VIRUS]
rascal.ics.utexas.edu
Werner Uhrig <werner@rascal.ics.utexas.edu>
Access is through anonymous ftp, IP number is 128.83.144.1.
Archives can be found in the directory mac/virus-tools.
Please retrieve the file 00.INDEX and review it offline.
Due to the size of the archive, online browsing is discouraged.
scfvm.bitnet
Joe McMahon <xrjdm@scfvm.bitnet>
Access is via LISTSERV.
SCFVM offers an "automatic update" service. Send the message
AFD ADD VIRUSREM PACKAGE
and you will receive updates as the archive is updated.
You can also subscribe to automatic file update information with
FUI ADD VIRUSREM PACKAGE
sumex-aim.stanford.edu
Bill Lipa <info-mac-request@sumex-aim.stanford.edu>
Access is through anonymous ftp, IP number is 36.44.0.6.
Archives can be found in /info-mac/virus.
Administrative queries to <info-mac-request@sumex-aim.stanford.edu>.
Submissions to <info-mac@sumex-aim.stanford.edu>.
There are a number of sites which maintain shadow archives of
the info-mac archives at sumex:
* MACSERV@PUCC services the Bitnet community
* LISTSERV@RICE for e-mail users
* FILESERV@IRLEARN for folks in Europe
uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft
Steve Jenkins <pdsoft@uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft>
Service for UK only; no access from BITNET/Internet/UUCP
Terminals : call lancs.pdsoft, login as "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft"
FTP : call lancs.pdsoft, user "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft".
Pull the file "help/basics" for starter info, "micros/index" for index.
Anti-Viral stuff is held as part of larger micro software collection
and is not collected into a distinct area.
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
Robert Thum <rthum@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil>
Access is through anonymous ftp, IP number 26.2.0.74.
Archives can be found in PD3:<MACINTOSH.VIRUS>.
Please get the file 00README.TXT and review it offline.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:30:47 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: IBMPC anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral archive for the IBMPC
# Listing last changed 16 December 1989
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
The IBMPC index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: ibmpc
topic: index
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>
f.ms.uky.edu
Daniel Chaney <chaney@ms.uky.edu>
This site can be reached through anonymous ftp.
The IBMPC anti-viral archives can be found in /pub/msdos/AntiVirus.
The IP address is 128.163.128.6.
mibsrv.mib.eng.ua.edu
James Ford <JFORD1@UA1VM.BITNET> <JFORD@MIBSRV.MIB.ENG.UA.EDU>
This site can be reached through anonymous ftp.
The IBM-PC anti-virals can be found in PUB/IBM-ANTIVIRUS
Uploads to PUB/IBM-ANTIVIRUS/00UPLOADS. Uploads are screened.
Requests to JFORD1@UA1VM.BITNET for UUENCODED files will be filled
on a limited bases as time permits.
The IP address is 130.160.20.80.
uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft
Steve Jenkins <pdsoft@uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft>
Service for UK only; no access from BITNET/Internet/UUCP
Terminals : call lancs.pdsoft, login as "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft"
FTP : call lancs.pdsoft, user "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft".
Pull the file "help/basics" for starter info, "micros/index" for index.
Anti-Viral stuff is held as part of larger micro software collection
and is not collected into a distinct area.
uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
Mark Zinzow <markz@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
This site can be reached through anonymous ftp.
The IBMPC anti-viral archives are in /pc/virus.
The IP address is 128.174.5.54.
vega.hut.fi
Timo Kiravuo <kiravuo@hut.fi>
This site (in Finland) can be reached through anonymous ftp.
The IBMPC anti-viral archives are in /pub/pc/virus.
The IP address is 130.233.200.42.
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
Keith Peterson <w8sdz@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil>
Direct access is through anonymous ftp, IP 26.2.0.74.
The anti-viral archives are in PD1:<MSDOS.TROJAN-PRO>.
Simtel is a TOPS-20 machine, and as such you should use
"tenex" mode and not "binary" mode to retreive archives.
Please get the file 00-INDEX.TXT using "ascii" mode and
review it offline.
NOTE:
There are also a number of servers which provide access
to the archives at simtel.
WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil can be accessed using LISTSERV commands
from BITNET via LISTSERV@NDSUVM1, LISTSERV@RPIECS and in Europe
from EARN TRICKLE servers. Send commands to TRICKLE@<host-name>
(for example: TRICKLE@AWIWUW11). The following TRICKLE servers
are presently available: AWIWUW11 (Austria), BANUFS11 (Belgium),
DKTC11 (Denmark), DB0FUB11 (Germany), IMIPOLI (Italy),
EB0UB011 (Spain) and TREARN (Turkey).
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 90 03:30:29 +0000
From: jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright)
Subject: Documentation anti-viral archive sites
# Anti-viral archive sites for documentation
# Listing last changed 03 January 1990
cert.sei.cmu.edu
Kenneth R. van Wyk <krvw@sei.cmu.edu>
Access is available via anonymous ftp, IP number 128.237.253.5.
This site maintains archives of all VIRUS-L digests, all
CERT advisories, as well as a number of informational documents.
VIRUS-L/comp.virus information is in:
~ftp/pub/virus-l/archives
~ftp/pub/virus-l/archives/predigest
~ftp/pub/virus-l/archives/1988
~ftp/pub/virus-l/archives/1989
~ftp/pub/virus-l/docs
CERT advisories are in:
~ftp/pub/cert_advisories
cs.hw.ac.uk
Dave Ferbrache <davidf@cs.hw.ac.uk>
NIFTP from JANET sites, login as "guest".
Electronic mail to <info-server@cs.hw.ac.uk>.
Main access is through mail server.
The master index for the virus archives can be retrieved as
request: virus
topic: index
The index for the **GENERAL** virus archives can be retrieved as
request: general
topic: index
The index for the **MISC.** virus archives can be retrieved as
request: misc
topic: index
**VIRUS-L** entries are stored in monthly and weekly digest form from
May 1988 to December 1988. These are accessed as log.8804 where
the topic substring is comprised of the year, month and a week
letter. The topics are:
8804, 8805, 8806 - monthly digests up to June 1988
8806a, 8806b, 8806c, 8806d, 8807a .. 8812d - weekly digests
The following daily digest format started on Wed 9 Nov 1988. Digests
are stored by volume number, e.g.
request: virus
topic: v1.2
would retrieve issue 2 of volume 1, in addition v1.index, v2.index and
v1.contents, v2.contents will retrieve an index of available digests
and a extracted list of the the contents of each volume respectively.
**COMP.RISKS** archives from v7.96 are available on line as:
request: comp.risks
topic: v7.96
where topic is the issue number, as above v7.index, v8.index and
v7.contents and v8.contents will retrieve indexes and contents lists.
For further details send a message with the text
help
The administrative address is <infoadm@cs.hw.ac.uk>
lehiibm1.bitnet
Ken van Wyk <LUKEN@LEHIIBM1.BITNET> new: <krvw@sei.cmu.edu>
This site has archives of VIRUS-L, and many papers of
general interest.
Access is through ftp, IP address 128.180.2.1.
The directories of interest are VIRUS-L and VIRUS-P.
uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft
Steve Jenkins <pdsoft@uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft>
Service for UK only; no access from BITNET/Internet/UUCP
Terminals : call lancs.pdsoft, login as "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft"
FTP : call lancs.pdsoft, user "pdsoft", pwd "pdsoft".
Pull the file "help/basics" for starter info, "micros/index" for index.
Anti-Viral stuff is held as part of larger micro software collection
and is not collected into a distinct area.
unma.unm.edu
Dave Grisham <dave@unma.unm.edu>
This site has a collection of ethics documents.
Included are legislation from several states and policies
from many institutions.
Access is through ftp, IP address 129.24.8.1.
Look in the directory /ethics.
- --
Jim Wright
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 90 14:33:00 -0500
From: WHMurray@DOCKMASTER.ARPA
Subject: Uses of MACs Against Viruses
First, let me take this occasion to apologize to Y. Radai for my
offenses of style and hyperbole. Then I would like to comment on his
discussion that appeared in VIRUS-L, Vol. 3, Issue 4 on the indicated
cross-over point for sophistication of the algorithm in generating
authenticators for programs.
I tend to agree with most of his observation as they relate to the use
of the authenticator to recognize the contamination of a program in
the target execution environment. However, I think that I speak for
Bob Bosen as well as myself when I suggest that we both have in mind
another use.
Bob posits the use of a MAC to ensure that programs are received as they
were shipped. This use offers some protection against contamination of
a program during transit from its trusted author to the point of use.
I go a little further. I suggest that programs be digitally signed by
their originators. (For more reasons than need be listed here, I
currently recommend RSA MailSafe for this application. This is a
hybrid implementation which uses a block-product cipher for processing
the program and RSA for key-management and distribution.) This use
not only enables the user to know that the program has not been
changed since original shipment from the author, but also enables the
author to disown any late changes. If the end-user does not know or
trust the author, but relies upon some inter-mediate authority, such
as the NCSC, or his own management, then the program can be
countersigned by this authority.
Note that for this application more time and resource would be
available for an attack. In addition multiple people would have to
rely upon the same algorithm or mechanism. These two requirements
argue for a strong alogrithm of known strength, i.e., a "standard"
one.
We argue that the provenance of a program or other data item is
essential to confidence in it. Immutability contributes. While
immutable media, such as CD-ROM, and a record of custody can be made
to work in special cases, digital signatures can be made to work in
most. They are independent of the media and move with the program.
Thus we argue for an additional use that has different requirements
than those considered by the other discussions.
William Hugh Murray, Fellow, Information System Security, Ernst & Young
2000 National City Center Cleveland, Ohio 44114
21 Locust Avenue, Suite 2D, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 00 19:90:52 +0000
From: greenber@utoday.UU.NET (Ross M. Greenberg)
Subject: VIRUS-L Digest V3 #4
> I now come to Ross Greenberg's posting in Issue 266.
> ...But Ross implies that users will always prefer a
>"good enough" fast checker like that of FluShot+ over a slow sophisti-
>cated one. But can we be so sure that FluShot+ is really good enough?
Well, I didn't mean to imply that the method used in my own code was
sophisticated at all. However, to date, it seems to be good enough:
no virus infection on a checksummed program has gotten through (to my
users knowledge, naturally) without detection. I can only assume that
lack of reporting can be equated to lack of infection -- I know that
such thinking leads to strange numbers coming from strange organizations
and (as such) can just ask you to prefix everything below with an "I
think" or an "I feel".
Anyway, that's what I mean by "good enough". For those users really
worried over things, two checkers would be a good idea.
>How many of its users have the slightest idea how its security com-
>pares with that of other programs?
The users have to trust the program author of any security product. As
such, they have to trust that, if a virus were to infect files with a
"zero differential" on the checksumming method I use, that I'd change
the checksuming method. Yes, there has to be a trust in your vendor.
The real world and the theoretical world do not always agree....
> I don't know whether his algorithm
>satisfies condition (B) above, but it certainly does not satisfy (A),
>i.e. for any given file all users will get the same checksum, and
>that's a potential security hole, at least in the "limited environment"
>situation mentioned at the end of (3) above. But since this hole can
>be plugged very simply and at no cost in speed, why not do so, Ross?
Easy to code - murder to support! I have about 15,000 registered users.
They call me with the slightest problem - as they should, and as they're
entitled to. If they ask me: "Is my COMMAND.COM file infected?", I need
simply ask them what the checksum is. From that I know the answer. If
I used some method to generate unique checksums for each user, I'd still
have to have some means to get back to the "real" checksum. If I could
do that, so could a bad guy, rendering inconvienence only to the bad guy,
and potentially to thousands of users (I average about 50 tech support
calls per day on a $14 product!)
Please understand that I certainly can appreciate the limitations of using
a less sophisticated algorithm within my code as versus something wonderfully
complex. But, as with any security product, I had to weigh off security
versus convienience considerations. I like to think I did an ok job of it:
those in doubt need simply use *any* other checksumming type program in
combination with my own to see if I'm right!
Ross M. Greenberg
Author, FLU_SHOT+
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End of VIRUS-L Digest
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