Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!cert.sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: CHESS@YKTVMV.BITNET (David.M.Chess) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: re: Dead vs Live: Commercial Necessity?? Message-ID: <0007.9105211425.AA07798@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 20 May 91 18:51:06 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 22 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu "Jonathan E. Oberg" asks whether or not new viruses can still become widespread in the real world, given that there are lots of detectors out there, and lots of channels by which information about new viruses can travel. I'm afraid the answer is probably "yes, definitely", although I'd love to be wrong! While the people who read VIRUS-L, and probably all their friends, are well aware of viruses and how to defend against them, I think the average machine out there, and possibly still the average company, is not at all well protected. The Joshi virus, for instance, is now quite widespread, but it has not been around that long; certainly it doesn't date from before we knew about stealthed boot viruses! The world still seems to contain a critical mass of unprotected, sufficiently connected machines, dense enough for viruses to thrive in. If a virus gets lucky (gets shipped with 10,000+ pre-configured machines from some random source, say), it's still the case that it has a very good chance of getting thoroughly embedded in the populace... *Boy*, would I like to be wrong this time! *8) DC