Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.os.msdos.apps,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: What is the best anti-virus program???
From: phys169@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
Date: 1 Sep 92 16:01:18 +1200
Organization: University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

In article <1992Aug26.142519.6625@donau.et.tudelft.nl>, andreas@dutedib.et.tudelft.nl (A.A.Buykx) writes:
> I recently downloaded f-prot.exe and I downloaded earlier virscan. Now my
> question is (I am a novice in *anti* virus programs):
>    Which one of these, or which other program should I use to 
>    protect my beloved computer from being crunched by some virus.

They are both good, in fact I'd put f-prot in front of MacAfee's SCAN overall.
There are some viruses which various versions of SCAN fail to detect.  This
shouldn't be taken as a shocking criticism - read the comp.virus newsgroup a bit
and you'll see there are quite a few viruses which one or other scanner miss,
and not just new ones.  But because these are normally rare instances, you'll
probably find that other factors are just important - like the speed of search
or the fact that F-Prot doesn't necessarily make enough "noise" about a virus
if you put it in a large autoexec.bat file and other things clear the screen
before you look at it.

There are some general rules of thumb for anti-viral software measures -
anything more specific would involve knowing the particular situation the
computer is used in...

(a) Use a mixture of anti-viral measures (e.g. a scan your disk as the
computer starts up, and a program that looks at executables as you start to run
them, and a change detector, and perhaps some write-protection system).  Modern
viruses know about modern virus detection methods, and will probably beat one,
but not all, methods. For example, two good programs that stop boot sector
viruses at boot-up (Padgett's DiskSecure and PanSoft's Immunise) work against
known boot sector viruses, but a new one can be written with one of those in
mind, in which case you need a scanner to detect viruses on diskettes before
they get a change to infect, and the scanners need to be sensitive to new
versions. 

(b) Get the latest version of at least one major scanner (e.g. FPROT), and
register it - i.e. get regular updates... VERY important.

(c) If you (or other people using the computer) don't remember to scan each new
disk and file that comes in consider putting more emphasis on virus stoppers
(like the VIRSTOP that comes with f-prot, and lots of other things) rather than
the traditional scanners (which are becoming inadequate for the newer viruses
anyway). 

(d) Get a copy of the Frequently Asked Questions for comp.virus; understand
that you might get "false positives", see where you can get the latest (safe!)
copies of popular anti-viral programs and reviews, and so on.

(e) Some very good anti-viral programs are free, and some are cheap shareware.
Feel free to use these in addition to the "big name" products.  I'll put a plug
in here for my freeware BOOTID program, that identifies boot sector viruses on
diskettes (doesn't get rid of them, just names them), and another
locally-produced program called SCANBOOT - which is a TSR that spots diskettes
with boot sector viruses as you use the diskette normally.  After those
unashamed advertisements I should add there are lots of ingenious, convenient
programs for stopping viruses one way or another; these are just examples I am
familiar with. Another thing worth mentioning is that if you have DRDOS 6, it
is wise to put password write-protection on the programs... it doesn't stop all
viruses but it is better than the simple attribute command (which is useless).
Another thing you might not think of as an anti-viral measure is if you create
a partition just for executables and unchanging files, then use Stacker or
SuperStore to compress it, then make it read-only with Disk Manager, it can be
very hard for viruses to infect the programs. In general, though, read-only
systems via software aren't all that secure.  They are best for stopping
accidental damage to files (which is common enough to protect against!)

(f) What ever protection system you use, it is important to maintain good
backups! There are some disasters these programs simply cannot protect you from.

(g) There are a whole host of measures appropriate to clusters and labs of
PC's, including making it impossible (without hardware changes) to boot from a
diskette drive.  Some of these changes (like replacement BIOSes) may also be
appropriate for home computers - not only to avoid viruses but to reduce the
PC's chance of being stolen.

Whew! this is getting long.  Feel free to e-mail me with questions,
Mark Aitchison, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.