Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!rutgers!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!cert.sei.cmu.edu!krvw
From: teda!RATVAX.DNET!ROBERTS@decwrl.dec.com (I'm working on it...)
Newsgroups: comp.virus
Subject: Anti-Virus Viruses
Message-ID: <0009.9009241932.AA21398@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 24 Sep 90 16:49:31 GMT
Sender: Virus Discussion List <VIRUS-L@LEHIIBM1>
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Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu

Brian Yamauchi writes:
>The problem with "food points", and other self-limiting strategies in
>general, is that from an evolutionary perspective these limitations
>are *flaws*, and the evolutionary pressure will be to remove these.

This is true, but viruses don't mutate often enough to matter over the
course of the expected life time of the currently used personal
computers.

Viruses make clones of themselves and (I hear) sometimes have code to
PREVENT themselves from mutating (hamming function).

- - George Roberts
..decwrl.dec.com!teda!ratvax.dnet!roberts