webber@constance.rutgers.edu (Bob Webber) (06/05/88)
In article <7377@swan.ulowell.edu>, page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) writes: > ... > On the other hand, the binaries group should be heavily moderated, > like it is now, to guard against viruses, etc. Actually there is nothing the binary moderators can do to see if a piece of software is virus'd unless it is just a replay of one of the ``known'' viruses. Much more likely is that someone will send a virused piece of software into a moderator that will spread faster because of people ``trusting'' the binary moderators. ------ BOB (webber@athos.rutgers.edu ; rutgers!athos.rutgers.edu!webber)
thomson%redpine.utah.edu.uucp@utah-gr.UUCP (Rich Thomson) (06/05/88)
In article <Jun.4.15.22.11.1988.1396@constance.rutgers.edu> webber@constance.rutgers.edu (Bob Webber) writes: >In article <7377@swan.ulowell.edu>, page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) writes: >> On the other hand, the binaries group should be heavily moderated, >> like it is now, to guard against viruses, etc. > >Actually there is nothing the binary moderators can do to see if a >piece of software is virus'd unless it is just a replay of one of >the ``known'' viruses. Much more likely is that someone will send a >virused piece of software into a moderator that will spread faster >because of people ``trusting'' the binary moderators. > I disagree, since the known viruses all modify the boot block of disks that are inserted in the machine, they would be easily detectable but are usually propogated by users copying disks, not just running software. Now, a piece of software that inserts itself in memory and stays there after running would be deleted by warm-booting the machine. If this thing attempted to keep itself around, there are programs that check all the reset-vectors to see who's been mucking with them. This would catch this kind of virus. The problem lies in a trojan horse. How can you detect it within a binary? Very hard. I agree that if the moderators get fooled by a program, the conseq- uences could be disastrous for many users, but I think the moderators can ferrit out viruses just as much as any users group could. So the quality of software on the binaries group shouldn't be any worse (I'd say it would be better) than user's group software. I mean, there's no guarantee on this stuff anyway. -- Rich Rich Thomson, Oasis Technologies, 3190 MEB, U of U, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 (801) 584-4555 thomson@cs.utah.edu {bellcore,ihnp4,ut-sally}!utah-cs!thomson Help stamp out drug mythology in our lifetime