Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 10:16:36 -0500
To: MacInTouch
From: John Norstad
Subject: Anti-Virals and Mac OS 8.5
MacInTouch:
Here's some more info on the sad state of affairs with Mac anti-viral software and Mac OS 8.5. This is a modified version of a posting I made to a local newsgroup here at Northwestern University in my role as Mac system software support droid. It's based on research and testing I did over the last several days. It's directed at users of Network Associate's Virex product because that's what we license, distribute, and use here at NU, but it applies to Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus product as well.
(Note: In another life I was the author of the now retired Disinfectant Mac anti-viral program.)
Please feel free to quote all or part of this article.
Unfortunately, the Virex Control Panel in the recently released Virex 5.9 from Network Associates is incompatible with Mac OS 8.5. It causes freezes on AppleShare network file copy operations. The last release of Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit has the same problem, as does the current version of Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus for Mac product (formerly "SAM"). Indeed, to the best of our knowledge, at the current time there is no Mac anti-viral product available in the U.S. which works properly under Mac OS 8.5 and provides adequate protection against the currently known collection of Mac viruses, worms, and Trojan Horses. We seriously suggest that you consider delaying upgrading to Mac OS 8.5 until this problem is resolved. If you're the kind of geek who just can't wait, we have some suggestions in the remainder of this article.
Because of this incompatibility between Virex 5.9 and Mac OS 8.5, if you are running Mac OS 8.5 or later, and if you use AppleShare networking, you should NOT install the Virex Control Panel. In this case, you are definitely vulnerable to infection. You should run the Virex application frequently to check your disks for infected files.
Network Associates says that a fix for this problem will be in version 5.9.1 of Virex, which should be released by Jan. 1, 1999. We just have to wait for them to get their act together.
Don't be naive and think you can use the old Virex 5.8.1 version on Mac OS 8.5 - AppleShare file copies work OK, but any part of 8.5 that uses the new Navigation Services fancy open/save dialog boxes will freeze your Mac solid. You can fix this problem by turning off the option to scan files when they are opened in the Virex Control Panel, but doing this leaves you seriously vulnerable to attack by viruses, so it is not an adequate solution.
For adventurous geeks, here's some things you can do to provide additional protection until Virex 5.9.1 is released.
If you do all of the above with Mac OS 8.5, you will be vulnerable only to Mac Trojan Horses and to the handful of new Mac system viruses which have appeared since May. So you should still run the Virex scanning application periodically just to make certain you're clean.
This is all a royal mess and pain in the neck for all of us, geek and non-geek alike, but there's not much we can do except wait.
What the Mac world needs is for some talented freeware author with lots of space time on his or her hands to write a comprehensive, simple Mac anti-viral utility which actually works and is updated rapidly in response to new virus discoveries and new Mac OS releases.
Oh, wait ... Never mind ... I had a sudden flashback and thought it was 1989 again. Sorry.
-- John Norstad
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