Thanks to
MR BRADLEY M ALEXANDER [alexanderb_at_quantico.usmc.mil]
Kevin Oberman [oberman_at_es.net]
William Flett [will_at_dcs.rhbnc.ac.uk]
rye [rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil]
for quick response.
All responses pointed to Vfind product. This product apparently will
check files for Windows/Mac viruses.
http://www.cyber.com/products/vfind/info/
<
http://www.cyber.com/products/vfind/info/>
I am planning to buy and install it and see how it works.
Ziggy
Kevin had some additional comments.
Since there has never been a documented virus on DU, no one has ever
written a checker to look for one. Viruses tend to operate on the total
lack of security in most Windows(tm) and MacOS(tm) systems and Unix is
not subject to the type of attack normally used.
It IS possible to have MIME mail generate security breaches and to have
it damage systems, but these are not viruses. Java also has the
potential to cause security problems, but, again, no viruses.
Of course, a file down-loaded onto a DU system and then transfered to a
Windows(tm) system MAY contain a virus, but there is no way to check for
it on the DU system. You need to do that on the Windows(tm) system.
Also, while there has never been a documented case of a virus on the
Unix system, there have been unverified reports and it MAY be possible
to write one using MIME encapsulated scripts. This would require the
recipient to actually decode and execute the code, but ti could be done
and probably will be, some day. But until it happens, user training is
the only real defense. (Don't run unknown code as root! Don't run
unknown code, at all!)
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: oberman_at_es.net <mailto:oberman_at_es.net> Phone:
+1 510 486-8634
Received on Tue Apr 28 1998 - 21:56:25 NZST