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List:       firewalls-gc
Subject:    Internet Virii ... was RE: Virus Scanner
From:       Joseph Judge <joej () joesmac ! ultranet ! com>
Date:       1997-07-26 17:12:11
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On the topic of "Internet virii" ... does the PointCast "autoupdate" 
feature make you nervous in its similarity to this ?

"I'm pointcast and you need an update, ok?, yes ... then I'm 
pulling down a file in the clear to auto-extract and install on your PC ...
done!"

	- joe

----------
From: 	Richard Pouncy[SMTP:prc@Noah.rtscomp.com]
Sent: 	Friday, July 25, 1997 3:29 PM
To: 	Paul Ferguson
Cc: 	Basil McCrea; 'firewalls@greatcircle.com'
Subject: 	Re: Virus Scanner

On Fri, 25 Jul 1997, Paul Ferguson wrote:

> Oh, goody. One of my favorite threads.
> 
> Comments below.
> 
> First, there is no such thing as an 'Internet virus'.  True,
> several years ago there was a worm which have affected UNIX
> hosts (the infamous Morris worm) and the WANK worm, however,
> I believe you are actually referring to is 'computer viruses
> transported via the Internet with the assistance of stupid
> humans', as opposed to self-propagating worms (Internet virus).

You are correct in saying there is no Internet virus to speak of, but with
all of the self-extracting/installing files flooding around on the
Internet, It would not surprise me if something was to happen.  The
problem with having the firewall scanning for viruses, the scanner would
have to do pattern matching looking at every bit as it passes and would
require lots of overhead. Also, if a file was infected with a mutating
virus, I don't believe the firewall scanner would be able to detect it. 
As far as virus scanners, it would be better to incorporate the virus
scanner into the Web Browser or the workstation OS. 


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Richard Pouncy                  | Litton PRC Inc. 
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