Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!tank!cps3xx!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: WHMurray@DOCKMASTER.ARPA Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: Shrink-Wrap and Write-Protection Message-ID: <0002.9001181613.AA20449@ge.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 17 Jan 90 20:35:00 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 16 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu >With 3.5" disks, a small hole can be covered by a moving tab, to >indicate to the disk drive whether the disk is locked or not. Open is >locked, closed is writable. If vendors disseminate applications on >write-locked 3.5" media, all a vandal needs to do is cover the hole >with a small piece of electrical tape. Without intending to minimize the threat of vandals, the damage that they do is vanishingly small when compared to errors by the well-intentioned. The danger to which this mechanism was addressed was the accidental and unwitting contamination of a distribution diskette. It was not intended to protect against the less likely vandalism. William Hugh Murray, Fellow, Information System Security, Ernst & Young 2000 National City Center Cleveland, Ohio 44114 21 Locust Avenue, Suite 2D, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840