sic@ritcsh.UUCP (Eric A. Neulight) (11/09/88)
In article <851@fxgrp.UUCP> grady@fxgrp.UUCP (Steven Grady) writes: >In article <11221@cgl.ucsf.EDU> kscott@socrates.ucsf.edu.UUCP (Kevin Scott) writes: >>Hats off to those of you who >>thought to call the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. >> >No no no. That was a joke name for the XCF (Experimental Computing >Facility) at UC Berkeley. (The XCF is at "scam.berkeley.edu".) >They used CDC as a nickname, once they found a patch to the >worm. > If this is true, that the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA. was not notified, then I have an argument... WHY NOT ???!!! It seems to me that a computer virus is very analogous to an epidemic. It spreads in a myriad of different ways, and it needs to be isolated, contained, identified, quarantined, and anihilated. Who (at least in the USA) is better set up to deal with such a situation. The CDC, of course. They are a clearing house, and coordinator of information, with the expertise on call or on file, to deal with such things. Why not create a division such as a computer virus task force? It is so far different and removed from biological viruses, and at same time the dynamics of such a bug immediately suggest the same logistical approach. Maybe they aren't so different after all. I have a funny feeling that computer viruses will be a more common, even eventually mundane, phenomenon in the future. They are probably here to stay. For every lock, there is a key. If anyone has ties to the CDC, or has an intelligent followup, I would encourage such discussion, and contact with the proper authorities at CDC. The Seeds of an Idea Who's Time Has Come... ============================================================================== CLAIMER: Well -- I wrote it! Eric Alan Neulight "Nothing is Impossible -- Just Impractical." Electrical Engineering "For every lock, there is a key." Computer Science House "INSANITY is just a state of mine." Rochester Institute of Technology BITNET: EAN4762@RITVAX UUCP: ...!rutgers!rochester!ritcv!ritcsh!sic ==============================================================================