cmcdonal@wsmr-emh10.army.mil (Chris McDonald ASQNC-TWS-RA) (10/04/89)
While I did not see the computer chronicles report referenced by a
poster in a recent Virus-L edition, I would propose that there really
is no accurate way at the present time to gauge any computer viral
infection within the military given existing policies and
organizational structures. The diversity of organizations has
resulted in differing policies as to whether such reporting is or is
not mandatory. This "discretionary" rather than "mandatory" reporting
ensures in my opinion that viral infections go unreported. Indeed, I
am aware of an outbreak of the Israeli B virus strain which infected
several PCs at a particular Army activity which I subsequently learned
was not reported through its chain-of-command. In all fairness the
written policies applicable to that activity do not make reporting
mandatory.
In so far as the Columbus Day virus is concerned, the Army's
Information Systems Command through a variety of sources has tapped
the resources of Virus-L to alert its users as to the potential
threat. An advisory message on the subject has been distributed
utilizing information first seen on Virus-L. Other Army Commands have
retransmitted the same information.
I would like to propose that the military subscribers to Virus-L
perhaps pursue the problem of reporting by answering these questions:
1. Has your site experienced a viral infection?
2. What viruses were present?
3. Was it reported to the next level of command?
I am volunteering to compile the results and then post a summary of
the responses received to Virus-L. I will of course ensure the
confidentiality of the identity of all sites. Responses should be
sent to me directly at <cmcdonal@wsmr-emh10.army.mil>. If this is
unacceptable, then perhaps someone out there in NETLAND has a better
idea. Parenthetically, I wonder if Ken might provide a breakdown of
who actually subscribes to Virus-L in terms of military, university,
and contractor subscribers? This would be important to assess the
level of participation.
[PS: Congratulations on your marriage!]
[Ed. Thanks! It would be extremely difficult to quantify the
different VIRUS-L subscribers, particularly since we're now
distributing VIRUS-L via the comp.virus Usenet newsgroup. I can tell
you, however, that the actual mailing list contains just shy of 1300
subscribers, over 200 of which are redistribution points. These sites
represent a solid cross-section of educational, commercial, military,
and government sites in several countries. Most (perhaps 70%) of the
sites are educational, with approximately equal numbers of com, mil,
and gov sites. Let me stress that these are not accurate numbers for
any sort of statistical analysis.]