Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!dptg!pegasus!dmt From: dmt@pegasus.ATT.COM (Dave Tutelman) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Article on Datacrime virus Message-ID: <4149@pegasus.ATT.COM> Date: 9 Oct 89 10:57:20 GMT References: <762@cbnewsj.ATT.COM> <574@disk.UUCP> Reply-To: dmt@pegasus.ATT.COM (Dave Tutelman) Organization: AT&T Bell Labs - Lincroft, NJ Lines: 23 In article <574@disk.UUCP> jcsewell@disk.UUCP (Jim Sewell) writes: > ... [ about virus checkers ] ... Their MAIN >function is not to rid a machine of a virus, but rather to detect and notify >you of ANY virus that can be detected by that program. There are few programs >designed to eliminate a virus; many more to notify you of their presence. Right! >It is like wearing a facemask before going into a sick person's room rather >than counting on medicine to cure you after you are infected. Close, but not quite. Practicing "safe computing" is like wearing a facemask. Using a virus-checking program (to extend your analogy) is like having regular physicals to catch diseases early (before you show their symptoms and suffer their effects). If a virus-checker shows up a virus on your machine, you may know before it blows away your FAT, but you still have to do something to get rid of it. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Dave Tutelman | | Physical - AT&T Bell Labs - Lincroft, NJ | | Logical - ...att!pegasus!dmt | | Audible - (201) 576 2194 | +---------------------------------------------------------------+