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At some point hitherto, Tim Lyons hath spake thusly:
> 
> > You know, I've never used anti-virus software, and I've never had a
> > system infected by a virus.  I solve this problem by 1) not reading my
> > mail with any Microsoft product, and 2) deleting any mail with
> > attachments that a Microsoft product might consider executable.
> > Actually I'd do the same with Linux-executable attachments, but I've
> > never received one, despite the fact that most of my friends and I use
> > Linux exclusively or almost exclusively...
> 
> The obvious question is, if you never used anti-virus, then how could you
> be certain??

Very simply.  A virus must execute its code to infect your system.  I
don't execute anything that I didn't write myself (or at least
compile), or didn't come from a reputable vendor.  It isn't impossible
that a reputable vendor might supply me with a virus, but it's very
unlikely.  And most virii produce very obvious results, like degrading
system performance, or making text appear to drip down your screen.
I've never had any such problems.

[I have actually heard of a case where a Microsoft product, I don't
recall which, shipped with a virus on the CD.  But then, I don't
consider Microsoft reputable either.]

> I'll grant you that until recently there had been nothing to worry
> about.  Now with the advent of *nix virii, you can no longer assume
> *nix is safe from infection.

It's extremely unlikely that I'll ever be infected by a Linux-based
virus either, for the same reasons as above, but also because in order
to infect any files, I must have write access to them, and I only have
write access to my own files.  I don't have write access to any system
files.  This is why Unix systems are so hard to infect with virus
programs.  (I'll note that worms are not virii, and invade a system by
different means).  
 
> I yearn for the the luxury of only using Linux again... but since in
> reality most of my clients use M$ based product and my employer uses Notes
> mail, 

Notes can do POP3 at least, and possibly IMAP.  I know it can, because
after one company I worked at switched to it, I found the notes e-mail
client unusable and begged them to turn on POP3.  They did.

> I chose to implement MailScanner/Sophos to protect my sanity.  I know that
> (unless I'm hit by a new variant) my inbound and outbound mail is clean
> and I also get warned if an infected host starts trying to send virii
> infected messages.

The latest e-mail bourne virii are very fast spreading, and several
recent ones did wide-spread damage before the anti-virus companies
even knew about them.  The fact is, this just isn't a good solution
anymore.  IMO, the ONLY way to deal with this problem effectively is
to completely block any and all executable content at the mail
gateway.

> (before anyone goes a' windows bashin' - that last statement is true of
> any OS.  We can only protect against that which we know or can anticipate.  
> Every OS has had, and will continue to have, undiscovered vulnerabilities;
> that's an accepted fact outside of Redmond.)

This is true, but vulnerability to virii does NOT need to be one of
them (they're 100% preventable if you're willing to do what's
required), and MS OS's and related products are particularly prone to
them out of the box.

> With that said, all I am saying is that if an individual chooses to host a
> public service off their cablemodem/dsl connection, then they should take
> the time to learn how to operate/secure it!

Agreed!


- -- 
Derek Martin               ddm@pizzashack.org    
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