From: Anthony Appleyard <XPUM04@prime-a.central-services.umist.ac.uk>
To: DAVIDF@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk
Date:         Wed, 20 Jun 90 16:29:44 BST 
Message-Id:   <$TGWGCZNQBTKQ at UMPA>
Subject:      Virus-L vol 0 issue #1008


Virus-L Digest Sat, 8 Oct 88, Volume 0 : Issue #1008

Today's Topics

DCL virus on VMS

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Date:         Sat, 8 Oct 88 13:05:00 EDT
From:         the Preserver <VISHNU@UFPINE>
Subject:      DCL virus on VMS

Someone asked how the Albany student's virus could have spread without  any
special  privileges. In any large community of users, a number of them will
write their own utilities/programs and share  them  with  other  users.  An
example here at UF, is the various public access login sequences maintained
by  various  students  for the benefit of the community as a whole. For the
virus to spread rapidly, all that would be necessary would be an  infection
of  one  of  these utilities used by many members of the community, then as
the users executed the utility they would infect all of their own files and
presumably any utilities they had written. For anyone familiar with DCL the
program should not pose a problem, in fact the quote  of  123  lines  seems
inordinately  high  for such a program. Possible solutions for VAX managers
facing a large community with  potential  malcontents  include  making  the
default  root directory protection no world read, setting up a dead account
to hold utilities submitted by users, and  informing  those  who  do  write
public  utilities  to  keep the public copy with the write access disabled.

Les Hill
vishnu@ufpine
vishnu@pine.circa.ufl.edu
CIRCA consulting, UF

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