hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) (02/21/88)
Some words from Jim Butterfield on the virus situation. This came to
me on People/Link from a Fidonet posting from a QLink posting. (QLink
is a commercial network accessible only by C64/128 computers running
special terminal software).
Anyone who has owned a 64 or read many 64-oriented publications should
know who Butterfield is.
--------------<crosspost starts here>--------------
From: Gary Stone Rec'd
To: All Msg #512, 09-Feb-88 10:07pm
Subject: Jim Butterfield Comments On Sca Virus
This message from Q-Link:
SUBJ: Thoughts... (R)
FROM: Buttrfield 02/04/88 S#: 847443
Discussion of the whole virus thing
with Commodore's techs at World of
Commodore (December) yielded the
information that it's part of the Amiga
design to permit non-standard boots ...
and that removing this to make the Amy
virus-proof would be a SERIOUS backward
step in the general Amy concept.
After that part was established, the
next step were discussions aimed toward
forming a program along the lines of
VirusCheck1.9 (the latest, as far as I
know). The idea: if a non-standard
boot is not forbidden, then the user can
at least be TOLD that there's something
unusual on this disk. Result is 1.9's
three-way results .. either:
a) The disk has a STANDARD boot;
b) The disk has a NONSTANDARD boot;
c) The disk is not a boot disk.
It may be just as well that we have
had a fairly harmless virus early in the
game. SCA may be doing us an
unintentional favor by putting us all on
our guard.
Because: heaven help us all when the
hard disk viruses come (as they surely
will .. as they clearly have on IBM
systems). They are VERY hard to find
and eliminate.
Thank your lucky stars that Fred Fish
is coordinating a reward/prosecution
fund to nail new virus originators. It
may slow down some of those nerds when
they realize that they are looking down
the muzzle of a (legal action) cannon.
Users who come from the Commodore
eight-bit environment have lived in the
relatively safe world of ROM systems.
It comes as a shock to find out what's
been going on with "soft logic" systems
Welcome to the Club, Commodore.
--- ConfMail V3.2
* Origin: Rick's Fido Wash. DC - Voting Member IFNA - (202) 833-1889
Harv Laser, Sysop, the People/Link AmigaZone. Plink ID: CBM*HARV
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"The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors on his hobnail boots"