B645ZAX%UTARLG.BITNET@VMA.CC.CMU.EDU (David Richardson, UTA) (11/09/89)
frisk@rhi.hi.is writes >jim frost writes: >>Limiting Propagation Rates. [edited out list of viruses that limit propogation rates] [frost goes on to point out how some of todays viruses meet some criteria of the "ultimate virus", and mentions the threat of AIDS and other anti-disinfecting viruses] >>By now you should get the idea that almost every virus we've seen is >>primitive, although several showed some of the survival traits which I >>outline above. Given the limited resources of PC environments, it's >>unlikely that you'll get a very sophisticated virus. > >I must disagree. In the PC environment it is not a question of limited >resources, but rather the fact that any user process has full access to >ALL resources and can even directly manipulate the hardware if required. >So, my opinion is that it is even easier to write a sophisticated virus on >the PC than in most other environments. The PC user has one weapon that is impactical on a mainframe: THE PC USER CAN TURN OFF HIS MACHINE AT ANY TIME AND DISINFECT HIS SYSTEM VERY EASILY. NO VIRUS (THAT I KNOW OF) CAN LIVE THROUGH A COLD BOOT. As long as PCs retain an OFF switch, then we have the ultimate power over our compters, viruses or not. - -David Richardson b645zax@utarlg.bitnet, @utarlg.arl.utexas.edu UTSPAN::UTADNX::UTARLG::B645ZAX phone +1 817 273 2231
kelly@uts.amdahl.com (Kelly Goen) (11/10/89)
Sorry again turning off power will stop the current execution of the
virus... but... unless you are perfect in your safe computing habits
and your tools are up to snuff and you give your harddisk an
engineering prep as you power up and ALL your software is clean.. you
can still be hit upon power up... following post you invok int19 to
read the boot tracks in loc 7c00 it is at this point you are first
vunerable...and not under control of ANY antiviral tool I have heard
about...(VIRUS_PROOF pc designs not withstanding... even cd-rom has
been infected during the production of shareware libaraies...) but
you wont incurr damage to your data while power is off but neither can
you get to it either...I am not saying the problem is unsolvable nor
hard to deal with just realize the power off switch is no REAL
protection some time or another you will eventually power up...
cheers
kelly