From: Thor Bols (thorbols@hotmail.com)
Date: 05/05/00-08:28:18 AM Z
Rod asks: "Money where mouth is time guys- how about you offer to help
Gordon find a solution?"
It would be presumptious of me or anyone else on this list to offer Gordon
our assistance. The University of Saskatchewan does not NEED or WANT our
assistance. They are certainly capable individuals. If it serves the
purposes of the institution to allow e-mail attachments, then so be it - it
is up to US to deal with it. In MOST cases e-mail attachements serve a
vital purpose, in fact they are crucial to most businesses, etc. I
sincerely doubt that anyone on this list lives in such a narrow existance
that their only exposure to viri would be through this channel.
You hit on a number of truisms here, Rod. Particularly cogent is your
observation that release of viri preceed the anti-virus "cures", an obvious
fact that seems to have elluded our friend from the New Jersey Department of
Defense, Mr. Krebs. But lets not lose sight of the fact that while Krebs
foolishly wandered into ridiculous territory with his "liability" issues,
and then spiraling out of control, he was correct in pointing out that the
responsibility in avoiding viri lies essentially in the hands of the end
user: Don't Open Attachements.
In my experience, the way to avoid viri is to be prepared. I maintain
several computers, but have never used an anti-virus application. Why?
Because of the reasons mentioned (its like closing the barndoor after the
horses are gone), because they frequently issue false warnings, and because
they are just another thing cluttering up my machine. My advice to computer
users is keep all operating system cds, application cds, passwords, etc. at
hand in an organized fashion. Back up essential data regularly to Zip disks
or to cdrom (cdrom burners are $200 and blank cds are $.50). If you get hit
with a virus, reload. Its far more comfortable for me to know that I CAN
recover than to sit here and worry. Besides, if you are a Windoze user
(another issue entirely) you've certainly learned by now what an unstable
platform it is: sooner or later your registery is going to get corrupted
ANYWAY, and you'll be needing a re-install.
Sorry to add to this thread, but I thought somebody might find it useful.
Viruses are going to get meaner. It may sound fatalistic, but you'll be
much better off if you treat system failures as an inevetable event. Get
ready for it.
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