Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: 2091 full-time mounting question
Message-ID: <10722@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 9 Apr 90 20:29:41 GMT
References: <22833@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax (Dave Haynie)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 29

In article <22833@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu (John 'Vlad' Adams) writes:
>I've a question for the floor.  Is anyone else bothered by the fact that
>the A2091/Quantum 40S is *always* online?  Isn't this an open invitation
>for Trojan horses?  I'm rather envious of my friends who can run
>off of floppy without having access to DH0.  Now, I'm welcoming corrections,
>but as far as I can tell (especially with the lack of any useful information
>in the 2091 manual) the hard drive is accessible to any program, right?

The 2091 doesn't have a traditional Boot Block, in the sense of the floppy,
than can be used to wedge in evil code like the kind that get started up
from boot floppies.  There is a utility called "Lock" on the latest Workbench
disk that lets you write protect your hard disk, under a password if you
like.  When testing totally unknown software, it could never hurt to write
protect the hard drive.  I'm not sure at what level this Lock works, but it
certainly is possible to protect a disk for any access other than blatent
register-level attacks, and if any virus hackers are clever enough to be 
implementing virus drivers for individual HD controllers, they should get 
into the commercial software business and drop this stupid virus hacking.

>John  M.  Adams    --*--    Professional Student on the six-year plan!      ///
>Internet:  jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu   -or-   vladimir@maple.circa.ufl.edu     ///
>"Houston, we have a negative on that orbit trajectory." Calvin & Hobbs  \\V//
>Cosysop of BBS:42; Amiga BBS FIDOnet 1:3612/42. 904-438-4803 (Florida)   \X/


-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Systems Engineering) "The Crew That Never Rests"
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                    Too much of everything is just enough