GTHEALL@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (George A. Theall) (10/06/89)
Comments: Rainbow Echomail from BILL MAYHEW Read: YES
The answer is "yes", Rainbows are susceptible. There's a discussion on
CompuServe about this that is too lengthy to recount here, and I'm not
sufficiently technically grounded (read: not an MS-DOS programmer) to know
all the ins and outs, but basically, according to some virus experts...
1. Many viruses use "generic" MS-DOS calls to do their dirty work.
2. Some viruses that don't use generic calls to do damage, DO use
generic calls to propagate themselves; thus a Rainbow could be a carrier,
if not a victim.
3. Enhanced IBM PC compatibility via Code Blue and newer versions of
DOS 3.10 is just that: enhanced IBM PC software compatibility. Viruses
are IBM PC software. Therefore...
However there are NO known cases of a Rainbow ever being infected by
a
documentable virus. (Differentiate these from cases where people say,
"Oh! My disk is out to lunch! It must be a virus!", forgetting that the
last thing they typed before turning the machine off yesterday was DEL *.*
...)
Rainbows are somewhat more isolated than a true clone, but not enough
to amount to much... certainly not enough to bet the ranch on. On the
other hand, the virus "scares" are largely overblown, and safe computing
practices can help a LOT and are a good idea even if there ARE no viruses,
just to protect against hardware and software failures.
There is an excellent body of text that has been put out by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology on the subject of viruses. It includes
a discussion of what they are, what "safe computing" means and how to practice
it, a glossary of terms used in discussing viruses and other related phenomena
a reading list, and some details on the DataCrime/Columbus Day virus, which
has gotten lots of press lately (far more than it deserves in terms of its
actual circulation, by all accounts). This text is available on DECUServe,
on CompuServe in the{ DECPC Forum (lib 3, VIRUS.TXT) and in some other Forums,
and has circulated on the Internet.
In addition, some virus detectors are known to work on the Rainbow under
various conditions (i.e. some with Code Blue, some without, some with special
command-line options). I believe SCANxx.EXE (there are new versions of
this almost every day; I believe the latest is SCAN40) and FluShot-Plus
are among these.
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