Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!polyslo!vlsi3b15!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: time@oxtrap.aa.ox.com (Tim Endres) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: Re: Why not change OS? Message-ID: <0003.8910051142.AA12544@ge.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 4 Oct 89 21:01:06 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 20 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu Better than changing OS to get better virus "resistance", why not encourage the systems designers at Apple and IBM to implement protection in their respective operating systems? An entire document dedicated to stopping virus acitivity at the OS level was mailed to John Sculley at Apple. Yet, to this day, even with an entire new OS release, not one of the suggestions given has been implemented! I am sure that there are many complex issues facing a company such as Apple, with regards to this problem, and changes at the OS level to deal with viruses will, and probably should, be slow. Further, I must give Apple credit for the action they did take when Macintosh viruses first surfaced. In some cases, they sent their own engineers to infected sites for investigation and assistance. They were the first to engage in "Virus Awareness" campaigns. Unfortunately, we have seen no work at the OS level. What users should be doing, is overtly pressuring computer manufacturers to address this need at the OS level, and start buying equipment from vendors who move in that direction.