spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) (02/12/91)
I finished reading "Consumer Report: Virus Scanners" by Dr. David Stang of the National Computer Security Association. This is an *extensive* report of tests done on various virus scanning software. Included in the test were: Cterus LAN 2.0, EliaShim ViruSafe 3.06 and 3.08, Fink AntiVirus 9.0, HTScan 1.11, IBM's VirScan 1.3, McAfee Scan V73, Skulason's F-Prot 112, and Trend's PC-cillin 2.95B. The test gives comprehensive results of scanning against 95 different viruses, boot sector infectors, and stealth viruses. The report also discusses issues of speed, accuracy, configurability, virus removal and integrity protection as features, batch mode operation, and price. My own personal conclusions are that the combination of F-PROT and IBM's VirScan is by far the most effective (and most cost-effective) combination you could possibly have. The combined cost of the two for a site license would be $26. Compare that with a site license fee that may run into several tens of thousands of $$ for McAfee's products, which (in my opinion) don't work as well. (It's a mystery to me why people continue to use McAfee's products.) The cited report, along with an excellent guide to virus characteristics and statistics entitled "Computer Viruses," is available from NCSA at: NCSA Suite 309 4401-A Connecticut Ave. NW Washington, DC 20008 phone: 202-364-1304 fax: 202-244-7875 Note that these reports apply ONLY to IBM-PC-type viruses and software, not to Macs, Amigas, etc. I have no direct or financial association with NCSA, and I've never even met Dr. Stang, but I am very impressed by his efforts. If you have some budget for well-researched virus information, I'd say to check these out. - -- Gene Spafford NSF/Purdue/U of Florida Software Engineering Research Center, Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004 Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu phone: (317) 494-7825