Re: Virus Collection for research!!!!

[adobe!NewsWatcher!user@decwrl.dec.com (Chris Page)]

In article <9301141201.AA24601@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu>, SAHARBAUGH@ROO.FIT.EDU
wrote:
> 
>   A virus could be sent out to search and destroy Excel 3.0
> and replace it with version 4.0. Work products could be
> similarly managed.  A virus could be sent out to search
> and destroy all old versions of a document and replace them
> with the latest.  We will need a virus stop at the door
> of the archive library of course.

This can easily be accomplished with a centralized program which inspects
each appropriate computer on the network. There are commercial products
available for the Macintosh which do this; no doubt there are similar
products for other systems.

Using a virus exposes the user to risk (what if the virus accidentally
deletes the wrong files on the wrong computers) beyond that of a
centralized
program, because virii by their nature self-replicate and usually don't
carry enough information with them to identify which machines it should
travel to and when it should die. Unless all the copies of the virus
talk to all other copies (read "lots of network traffic"), they won't
know when all machines have been "updated".

Certainly, the "biological" behaviors of virii are interesting and imply
that
some useful application is possible, but I don't think that network
management
is one of them.

Chris Page
Adobe Systems, Inc.
cpage@mv.us.adobe.com

Disclaimer: these are my own opinions and not necessarily those of my
employer.
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