DAB3@LEHIGH (David A. Bader) (06/06/89)
In June 1989 issue of IEEE's Spectrum magazine, there is an article on "Virtually a virus, but for a good cause" : Computer Viruses -- and other programs that disrupt networks or other- wise play havoc with computer systems -- have been in the limelight lately. Now an over-the-counter program advertises a utility that lets it clone itself from one microcomputer to another over a cable. The facility is not a virus, but it behaves like one -- except that the target must agree to be "invaded." Nor is it a simple COPY command, since it copies files from the domain of one independent system into that of another. The program is LapLink III, a file-transfer utility from Traveling Software, Inc., Bothell, Wash. To transfer files from a PC with LapLink intstalled to a second machine without it, users enter a one-line command, and the program will send a copy of itself across the wire. However, Traveling Software has built in a safeguard: the program installs itself only if the user types the MS-DOS MODE command to alert the second PC's operating system that a file is to be received. By requiring that the receiving machine be notified of the transfer, LapLinks' designers have reduced the chance of malice. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------
makela@jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) (06/07/89)
Oh no! Not another case of a "virus" invented by the media! It was bad enogh when they decided to call the November Worm a virus... This prog sounds just like a worm to me. At least from the description. But this is nothing new. The PCU (PC to Unix) software sold by Unisys for quite a time now has a feature where it automatically sends the C code for a simple file transfer program to the receiving Unix system, and then compiles it... nothing new here... (what was the hooha about doing MODE ? Didn't make very much sense...) Otto J. Makela (with poetic license to kill), University of Jyvaskyla InterNet: makela@tukki.jyu.fi, BitNet: MAKELA_OTTO_@FINJYU.BITNET BBS: +358 41 211 562 (V.22bis/V.22/V.21, 24h/d), Phone: +358 41 613 847 Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE