Alan_J_Roberts@Sun.COM (09/12/89)
Thought the following note posted to the HomeBase board from John McAfee
might be of interest:
9-11-89 10:38:15
From: John McAfee
Subj: October 12th Virus
The press has recently focused on the October 12th (DataCrime)
virus as the latest threat to our collective well-being. The mania
started, I believe, with Joe Hirst's warning in the advertising flyer
for the Virus Bulletin, and was recently fueled by John Dvorak's
August column in the San Francisco Chronicle. This virus, however, is
a virtual phantom. It does exist, but it is not a major statistical
threat to U.S. computers (at least not for the next few months).
There have been fewer than 50 reports of infection in Europe and only
seven reports here in the U.S. -- including the Tom Patterson Report
fron Centel - since the beginning of the year. This compares with
over 30 reports per day of the Jerusalem-B virus, and over ten reports
per day of the 1701/4 virus.
These statistics come from the VIRUSCAN reports. The program
distribution, through the FIDONET network, shareware distributors and
other channels has reached an estimated 3 million users. This is a
large enough statistical base to catch any widespread infection threat
- - and the DataCrime simply has not shown up as a major player. I
think we would be wiser warning users of the threats that are
statistically most likely. The current order of appearance is:
Jerusalem-B - 62%
1701/4 - 17%
Ping Pong - 9%
Stoned - 8%
All Others Combined - 4%
These figures are for the past 30 days. They do change
dramatically from month to month, but the top four are fairly
constant. The up and coming virus to watch, by the way, appears to be
the Vienna virus. We had no reports at all in the U.S. from January
till June 18th of this year. Then one report on the 19th of June, 4
reports through the end of July, 11 in the month of August and 15 in
the first ten days of September.
Hope this provides some perspective.UH2@PSUVM.PSU.EDU (Lee Sailer) (09/17/89)
I am new to this virus watching business. There is a bit of logic that
I don't understand. Several of you have said that since there are
only seven reported occurrances in the US, it isn't much of a threat.
But, since the virus lays low til 10/13, couldn't many people be infected
but not know? My environment is a small college with about 200 virus-
innocent faculty and staff. Our computer center has only just begun
to look for viruses. I bet none of the faculty have a virus detector,
and certainly the secretaries don't.
If one of these destructive viruses got a foothold in a place like this,
couldn't it spread quite a bit between now and 10/13?
lee