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STR#_201.txt
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1996-03-08
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Online.
Notice of new versions are often posted on CompuServe and America
ftp://ftp.mcafee.com
within a few days. The official FTP site is:
we usually release a new version of VirusScan to recognize the virus
VirusScan is distributed electronically. When a new virus is discovered,
to the comparatively meaningless damage caused by computer viruses.
compare the enormous suffering caused by biological viruses such as HIV
they never occur naturally. Most importantly, it is not possible to
never created by people. Computer viruses are always created by people;
organisms. Biological viruses usually occur naturally and are almost
between biological and computer viruses too far. Computers are not living
As with all analogies, however, it is possible to carry the analogy
inoculate or vaccinate the system to protect it against future infection.
the infection without damaging the system and it is sometimes possible to
damaged. With both kinds of viruses, it is sometimes possible to remove
survive. In both cases, the infected system is sometimes severely
Both of them replicate and they both require the assistance of a host to
The analogy between biological viruses and computer viruses is striking.
of freeware and shareware software are remarkably virus-free.
infected commercial software, while most of the major national sources
from the truth. There have been many reported cases of (inadvertently)
viruses by merely avoiding shareware and freeware software. This is far
There is a misconception that you can protect your Macintosh against
simple things we suggest you do to protect your Mac.
viruses. See the section titled “Recommendations” for a short list of the
minutes per week to effectively protect your Macintosh against the known
should take the problem seriously. Using VirusScan, it only takes a few
There is no need to panic over the current virus situation. However, you
horses.
VirusScan does not attempt to address the problems of worms and Trojan
replicate.
the background while you used the program. Trojan horses do not
would be game or other program which quietly erased your hard drive in
additionally does something destructive behind your back. An example
A “Trojan horse” is a program which appears to do something useful, yet
computers in a single day.
infected and disabled several thousand government and university UNIX
The most well-known example is the Fall 1988 Internet worm, which
computers. They are not spread through the sharing of software or disks.
survive and replicate. Worms usually propagate over a network of
itself to other programs. Unlike a virus, it does not require a host to
A “worm” is a program which replicates and spreads, but does not attach
such as “worms” and “Trojan horses.”
Viruses should not be confused with other types of destructive software
viruses.
an uninfected system against infection by any of the known Mac system
Extension). When properly installed, the VirusScan Extension will protect
VirusScan also includes a virus protection extension (VirusScan
“MerryXMas” HyperCard viruses and the Word 6 macro virus.
language viruses. These include the “Dukakis,” “Three Tunes,” and
VirusScan does not recognize application-specific scripting or macro
have to get a new copy of the program.
appears, we will have to modify the program to recognize it, and you will
configured and programmed to recognize. If a new virus or strain
VirusScan will not recognize all possible viruses: only the ones it has been
repair files which have been infected by the viruses.
variations and clones. It will both detect the viruses and, when possible,
viruses. Furthermore, VirusScan also recognizes many possible unknown
viruses. It also recognizes all the known variations and clones of these
VirusScan recognizes all of the currently known Macintosh system
crashes and strange behavior.
also discovered errors in most viruses which can cause unexplained
interfere in unexpected ways with other parts of the system. We have
They also live at very low levels in the operating system and can
memory and disk space and this is enough to cause problems all by itself.
problems with the normal operation of their Macintosh. Viruses occupy
unintentional. Many people who have experienced infections have reported
non-malicious viruses are always damaging, even if the damage is
are non-malicious. It is very important to realize, however, that even
We are very fortunate that to date most of the known Macintosh viruses
damage or delete files or destroy the contents of hard drives.
damage something. For example, malicious viruses often intentionally
other hand, malicious viruses, in addition to replicating, do attempt to
else innocuous, but they do not intentionally try to do any damage. On the
example, they may beep, display messages on the screen, or do something
replicate, but they do not attempt to do anything destructive. For
Viruses may be malicious or non-malicious. Non-malicious viruses
network.
be through the Internet, exchanged floppies or file servers on a local area
and distribution of infected software or infected disks. This sharing can
computer. Viruses spread from one Macintosh to another via the sharing
files. Viruses quickly propagate to other files and disks as you use your
A virus is a piece of software which attaches itself to other programs or
continue to cause problems for some time.
years ago, viruses continue to spread rapidly and widely. Viruses will
community, although the problem is not as serious as it was several
increasingly serious problem in the computing world. In the Macintosh
Viruses and other kinds of destructive computer software have become an
åIntroduction
,
,