Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!rs4u+
From: rs4u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Richard Siegel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: StuffIt a Virus ?
Message-ID: <4WRSKAy00XoAEB4EVV@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 27 Apr 88 13:43:40 GMT
References: <350@matr-a.UUCP>,
	<615@lakesys.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Carnegie Mellon
Lines: 50
In-Reply-To: <615@lakesys.UUCP>


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Excerpts from: 26-Apr-88 Re: StuffIt a Virus ? Jim Macak@lakesys.UUCP (2425)}}


\quotation{We have to be careful to make a distinction between programs that 
have been}

\quotation{innocently infected and those that were infected on purpose by the 
virus}

\quotation{author in order to distribute the virus.}


Not only must we make the distinction between programs that are accidentally 
infected and those that were purposely "inoculated", it is also highly 
important that we make the distinction between hardware/software problems such 
as incompatibilities and virus behavior. 


	I've seen recently (both in these newsgroups and at CMU) cases where 
something doesn't work correctly, and the first conclusion is "Oh my God, it's 
a VIRUS!!!" In the case at CMU, someone was trying to use a very old version 
of AutoBlack (the screen darkener that called itself "Macsbug" to install 
itself) on a Macintosh II. It crashed at startup, so the user assumed he had a 
virus of some sort. 


	Another example I saw just yesterday: two friends were trying to install 
SteppingOut on a Mac, and it kept crashing on boot. One of them concluded that 
"it's a high possibility that the machine is infected". AS it turned out, 
there were lots of INITs, and one of them was accidentally getting installed 
twice, and that's what was crashing the system.  Not a virus.


	Being careful to watch for virus infections is one thing. Every piece of new 
software that you download from a service must be carefully checked. Use 
Vaccine or whatever. (I don't use it because I keep my system safe and I 
prefer to have as few things mucking with my computer as possible.)


	Being paranoid and assuming that every little quirk MUST BE A VIRUS!!! is 
quite another.


		-Rich

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