cs106132@uunet.UU.NET (cs106132) (05/10/91)
>this strain, it could not detect it. This is expected as the documentation >hints. However, when I ran F-OSCHK, the virus infected the system files >.....This is not a bug type of thing, it is a design flaw! *This problem is of course not unique to F-PROT - every other scanner *has this same problem. In fact, the DOS 'COPY' command can also cause *a similar effect - infection of files when they are read. Is it a *design flaw in DOS ? Amazing! You totally missed the point sir. Neither DOS, nor any of its utility programs (the ones that come with DOS) make any claims for being capable of dealing with viruses. In that regard, the criticism does not apply to them. F-PROT and FluShot+ (1.81) are full-blown, widely-used ANTI-VIRAL packages. If DOS etc. could have handled the problem, we would not have been unfortunate enough to shell out more bucks to feel secure from viruses. *So - with the current generation of scanners, this problem cannot be *avoided. Not at all. I have seen at least one beta-test version of a new product that does not suffer from the mentioned problems. Because of an agreement, I am not allowed to say more on this. But, it will be available in the near future according to the developers. *- -frisk Regards, Tarkan
frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason) (05/15/91)
I wrote: >*So - with the current generation of scanners, this problem cannot be >*avoided. umbc3!umbc3.umbc.edu!cs106132@uunet.UU.NET (cs106132) replied: > Not at all. I have seen at least one beta-test version of a >new product that does not suffer from the mentioned problems. Please read wnat I wrote - "current generation of scanners". It is possible to write anti-virus procucts which can handle some of the "unsolved" problems of today, such as... ...stopping interrupt "stripping" viruses. ...stopping viruses which jump directly into ROM. ...detecting all "stealth" viruses, even if they are active (the problem i refered to). and so on. The point is that such software does not exist today, but many anti-virus companies are working on this - and we can expect those features soon. However, those products are the "next generation" of anti-virus software. - -frisk