Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!udel!rochester!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!ub!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!cert.sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: 71435.1777@CompuServe.COM (Bob Bosen) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: Word Perfect and change checkers (PC) Message-ID: <0003.9102281544.AA01581@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 27 Feb 91 18:35:38 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 24 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu Rob slade writes: >All versions of Word Perfect (at least since 4.2) have had a self >testing module in them. Neither F-XLock nor SCAN /AV nor any >other self checker that adds code to the program can be used on >it, since the added code invalidates the internal self test. Please note that not all "change checkers" add code to the program. SafeWord Virus-Safe, for example, does not. There are probably others. The term "change checkers" is very descriptive, but I prefer the more positive-sounding terms such as "integrity checkers" or "signature verifiers". Whatever you call them, in my view these represent the only defense capable of detecting TODAY's and TOMORROW's viruses in addition to YESTERDAY's! Viral infection is a subset of the larger problem of verification of integrity. - -Bob Bosen- Enigma Logic Inc. (Producers of SafeWord VIRUS-Safe [Now Shareware]) 2151 Salvio Street #301 Concord, CA 94520 USA Tel: 415 827-5707 FAX: 415 827-2593 Internet: 71435.1777@COMPUSERVE.COM