Tag Archives: System software

Software: A Virus Alternative

 Further to my earlier post about the rising virus conflict, one option to consider is a non-mainstream Anti Virus program. There are some out there, and they might just do a better job of saving your hide: They may work better, and they may put out updates faster. One is the unfortunately named NOD32, from… Read More »

News: We’re Losing the Virus Arms Race

This week’s New Scientist confirms what readers of this blog already knew about the growing imbalance in the virus arms race. Antivirus specialists, the mag says, are fighting a losing battle against malicious code like viruses and worms. Research undertaken at Hewlett-Packard’s labs in Bristol, UK, is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of antiviral… Read More »

Update: Blaster B Suspect Is About To Be Arrested

 There must be at least one frightened teenager out there today. AP reports that U.S. investigators have identified a teenager as one author of a version of the Blaster worm and plan to arrest him early Friday (U.S. time). A witness reportedly saw the teen testing the infection and called authorities, an official said. The… Read More »

News: Norton Chips In

 I should have known, given the whole virus thing is big business, that if one company announces a new product, its rival down the street isn’t likely to stay silent. Hot on the heels (or maybe before, who knows) of McAfee’s upgrade to its VirusScan, Symantec Corp.announced Norton AntiVirus 2004, although tellingly it’s not ‘widely… Read More »

News: Worms and Blackouts

 Conspiracy theorists reckon the big power blackout in the U.S. Northeast and part of Canada may have been caused by the Blaster worm. Here’s Robert X. Cringely from InfoWorld: “Many plants on the grid run a Windows-based SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system that receives remote commands through the same RPC (Remote Procedure Call) protocol… Read More »