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From: mcafee@netcom.com (McAfee Associates)
Newsgroups: comp.virus
Subject: McAfee on VSUM accuracy and Microcom (PC)
Message-ID: <0002.9106261903.AA01188@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 25 Jun 91 17:04:30 GMT
Sender: Virus Discussion List <VIRUS-L@LEHIIBM1>
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Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu

The following message is forwarded from John McAfee:

     I regret that I haven't had much time to keep up with Virus-L
recently, especially since it is one of the more informative sources
of virus information.  Fortunately, Aryeh Goretsky, Morgan Schweers,
Fritz Schneider and others have been kind enough to digest the bulk of
the Virus-L information and forward to me bits and pieces that they
feel my feeble mind can manage.
           A couple of postings made recently by Terry Reeves Ross
Greenburg need a response.  Specifically:

>From:   treeves@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Terry N Reeves)
>Vsum still says no utility will remove joshi and that a low level
>format is required.....
>     Is there a utility Ms. Hoffman?  perhaps you just don't want to
>admit it because McAffe's can't?  (i have not tried McAfee but I
assume >she'd say if his did.)

The McAfee Clean-Up program has been able to cure the Joshi since the
Joshi first appeared more than ten months ago.  What is curious about
this message is that Terry has not tried our product, yet tacitly
assumes that it cannot perform a given function.  The reason he gives
for this assumption is that the VSUM author doesn't want to admit that
anyone could cure the Joshi because McAfee cannot.  Have we really
reached this level of acrimony within this industry?  Isn't it enough
that most of us are trying our best to thwart a growing number of
virus writers and an escalating infection incidence?  Is there that
much spare energy left to throw stones at people like Patricia
Hoffman?  If Patricia, who works harder at analyzing and reporting
viruses than anyone I know, is now a flame target, then what's left?
I have been aware that VSUM did not report a disinfector for Joshi
(even though Clean-Up had been disinfecting it for 8 releases of VSUM)
but so what?  Out of 500,000 bytes of fine reporting in VSUM, should I
be so insecure that I have to correct Patricia's document so the world
will know that the McAfee products disinfect yet another virus?  Is
there really time and energy for such trivia?

And the second posting:

>From:  Ross Greenburg
>One of the interesting things:  Microcom, the people who publish and
>market my code, is expressly forbidden from using McAfee products by
>the vendor itself.

This is news to the alleged vendor.  Since McAfee Associates is the
only vendor of the McAfee products I assume Ross means us.  We have
never refused to sell our products to anyone, and our policies will
not change.  It's a strange comment considering that 99.9% of all of
our users use our products without telling us or paying us anyway (one
of the side effects of shareware).  How would we ever know?

In any case, it's good to exercise my fingers again and communicate
with this growing body of concerned persons.  My best wishes to my
detractors (many), admirers (few) and lethargics (the silent majority)
alike.

- - - -
End of forwarded message.

While John is not regularly on the Internet, I will forward any replies
to him, however, it would probably be best to contact him directly via
telephone or fax at any of the numbers below.

Aryeh Goretsky
McAfee Associates Technical Support