VIRUS-L Digest Monday, 28 Jan 1991 Volume 4 : Issue 16
Today's Topics:
Antiviral product contact list (PC mostly)
Review of SCAN (PC)
VIRUS-L is a moderated, digested mail forum for discussing computer
virus issues; comp.virus is a non-digested Usenet counterpart.
Discussions are not limited to any one hardware/software platform -
diversity is welcomed. Contributions should be relevant, concise,
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anti-virus, documentation, and back-issue archives is distributed
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and so forth) should be sent to me at:
[email protected].
Ken van Wyk
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Date: Sun, 27 Jan 91 17:53:36 -0800
>From: Robert Slade <
[email protected]>
Subject: Antiviral product contact list (PC mostly)
The following is a list of antiviral product vendors, mostly for the
PC line. I am sending it out in conjunction with the reviews that I
am doing. I have two purposes in sending it out:
1) providing a list of vendors and products, and
2) hoping to update my own list.
The first list I sent out, Ken immediately sent back a correction.
This list is, I know full of errors. I would appreciate feedback on
any errors or ommissions, and will, at some future time, send out an
update. Maybe regularly.
A note regarding the number of "product not available" notations. I
have, so far, heard nothing from these people. I do not yet know
whether this is due to improper addressing, poor mail service or
products or comapnies that no longer exist.
I have, also, listed specific names with various companies. These
names are not, in most cases, the people to contact for ordering the
product. In some cases they are people I have spoken with, in other
cases they are names I was given to try to contact if the company was
no longer listed.
Please excuse the "informality" of this list. It represents only
"working notes" in the preparation of the anti-viral product reviews.
I hope it may be helpful to those looking for products. If you make
an antiviral product, wish to have it reviewed and your company or
product is not listed, or appears erroneously, please contact me.
===============
Sandy Jenish, Dave Reid (VP Marketing)
Advanced Gravis Computer Technology
7033 Antrim Avenue
Burnaby, B. C.
V5J 4M5
604-434-7274
Telecopier: (604) 434-7809
Advanced Security for PC and Mac
Brightwork Development Inc.
Tinton Falls, NJ
201-530-0440
Sitelock, Novell add-on operation restricting software
Certus International
13110 Shaker Square
Cleveland, Ohio 44120
USA
216-752-8181
800-722-8737
Mike Mytnick
operation restricting software, particularly for LANs
ComNETco, Inc.
29 Olcott Square
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
USA
VirusSafe-Anti-Viral Software (cf EliaShim, also Enigma SafeWord (R)
Virus-Safe)
mail undeliverable
CSM Management and Consulting
3031 Main St.
Vancouver, B. C.
V5T 3G8
604-879-4162
Telecopier: 604-874-1668
Overlord
product not available
Cylink
110 S. Wolfe Road
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
USA
408-735-5800
telecopier: 408-738-8269
SecurePC - half card DES encryptor
product not available
Digital Dispatch, Inc.
1580 Rice Creek Road
Minneapolis, MN 55432
mail undeliverable
Lakeland, Minn.
612-436-1000
800-221-8091
Antigen, Data Physician, Novirus-Anti-viral software
Director Technologies Inc.
906 University Place
Evanston, IL 60201
USA
Disk Defender-Half-Slot Virus Write-Interrupt Device
product not available
Dynamics Security Inc.
Cambridge, MA
USA
mail undeliverable
EliaShim Microcomputers
520 W. Hwy. 436, #1180-30
Altamonte Springs, Florida
USA
407-682-1587
VirusSafe - TSR scanner (cf ComNETco?)
product not available
Bob Bosen
Enigma Logic Inc.
2151 Salvio Street, #301
Concord, CA 94565 USA
Tel: (415) 827-5707
FAX: (415) 827-2593
Internet:
[email protected]
Safeword - change detection software
Fink Enterprises
11 Glen Cameron Road, Unit 11
Thornhill, Ontario
L3T 4N3
416-764-5648
Telecopier: 416-764-5649
IRIS Antivirus (from Israel, cf Techmar)
FoundationWare
2135 Renrock Rd.
Cleveland, OH 44118
USA
Vaccine 1.2-Anti-viral software
mail undeliverable, possibly out of business?
Gee Wiz Software Company
c/o Mrs. Janey Huie
10 Manton Avenue
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
USA
Dprotect-Anti-Trojan Software
product not available
Denny Kirk
Hyper Technologies
211 - 3030 Lincoln
Coquitlam, B. C.
604-464-8680
Integrity
still in production, not yet available
International Computer Virus Institute
1257 Siskiyou Boulevard, Suite 179
Ashland, OR 97520
USA
503-488-3237
503-482-3284
BBS 503-488-2251
Eliminator anit-viral, virus simulators plus books and consulting
Interpath Corporation
Cylene-4-Anti-Viral software, no longer produced
defunct, cf McAfee
IP Technologies
Virus Guard
address no longer valid
Lasertrieve, Inc.
395 Main Street
Metuchen, NJ 08840
USA
Viralarm-Anti-Viral Software
product not available
LeeMah DataCom Security Corp.
3948 Trust Way
Hayward, CA 94545
USA
415-786-0790
product not available
Paul Mace Software
400 Williamson Way
Ashland, OR 97520
USA
sold and supported through:
Fifth Generation Systems, Inc.
10049 N. Reiger Rd.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
USA 70809
1-800-873-4384 sales and info
504-291-7283 tech support
504-291-7221 admin
telecopier: 504-292-4465
Mace Vaccine-Anti-viral software.
McAfee Associates
4423 Cheeney Street
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
408-988-3832
Viruscan-Scans disk and RAM for viri.
Microcom Software Division
3700-B Lyckan Parkway
Durham, NC 27717
USA
also Norwood, MA
919-490-1277
800-822-8224
Virex-PC, also Virex for Mac - scanner
Mary Hughes
see also Software Concepts Design
Orion Microsystems
Quebec
Panda Systems
801 Wilson Road
Wimington, DE 19803
USA
Dr. Panda Utilities-Anti-Viral Software
product not available
Parsons Technology
375 Collins Road NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
USA
319-395-9626
Virucide
rec'd 901130
PKWare, Inc.
7545 North Port Washington Road
Glendale, WI 53217-3442
USA
PKZIP, PKSFX-File compression utilities with encryption option
Prime Factors
1470 East 20th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97403
USA
VI-Raid-Anti-Viral Software
product not available
Quaid Software Ltd.
45 Charles Street East
Toronto, ON M4Y 1S2
416-961-8243
Antidote-Anti-Viral Software
product not available
RG Software Systems Inc
6900 East Camelback Road
Suite 630
Scotsdale AZ 85251
602 423 8000
Diskwatcher 2.0, ViSpy
Fridrik Skulason
Box 7180
IS-127 Reykjavik
Iceland
[email protected]
F-PROT-Virus detection/protection/disinfection and utilities
Ross Greenburg
Software Concepts Design
594 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10016
USA
Flushot-Anti-Viral Software.
see also Microcom
Sophco
P.O. Box 7430
Boulder, CO 80306
USA
Vaccinate-Anti-Viral Software
product not available
Sophos Limited
20 Hawthorne Way
Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1EZ
UK
Vaccine-Anti-Viral Software
Swarthmore Software Systems
526 Walnut Lane
Swarthmore, PA 19081
USA
Bombsquad, Check-4-Bomb-Anti-Trojan software
product not available
Symantec/Peter Norton
10201 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
USA
408-253-9600
800-343-4714
800-441-7234
408-252-3570
416-923-1033
Norton AntiVirus - product under development 901204
Techmar Computer Products
97 - 77 Queens Blvd.
Rego Park, NY 11374
USA
718-997-6800
IRIS Antivirus (cf Fink), also Antivirus Plus (purported "AI vaccine")
Tomauri Inc.
30 West Beaver Creek Road, Unit 13
Richmond Hill, Ontario
L4B 3K1
416-886-8122
Telecopier: 416-886-6452
PC Guard - password protection board, also for Mac
product not available
Trend Micro Devices Inc.
2421 W. 205th St., #D-100
Torrance, CA 90501
USA
213-782-8190
PC-cillin - program change detection hardware/software
University of Cincinnati
Dep't. of Computer Engineering
Mail Loc. 30 - 898 Rhodes Hall
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0030
USA
Cryptographic Checksum-Anti-Viral software
product not available
Worldwide Software Inc.
20 Exchange Place, 27th Floor
New York, NY 10005
USA
212-422-4100
Telecopier 212-422-1953
Vaccine Version 2-Anti-Viral Software.
product not available
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 91 17:17:21 -0800
>From:
[email protected] (Rob Slade)
Subject: Review of SCAN (PC)
Comparison Review
Company and product:
McAfee Associates
4423 Cheeney Street
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
SCAN, CLEAN, VSHIELD, SENTRY - virus detection, disinfection and
protection, also FSHIELD and VCOPY
Summary:
A useful and regularly updated set of products with a large user base.
Separate distribution of the programs may be a problem.
Cost: $25 - $35 US per program, $159 for the set as of version 72
Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good)
"Friendliness"
Installation 2
Ease of use 3
Help systems 2
Compatibility 3
Company
Stability 3
Support 3
Documentation 2
Hardware required 4
Performance 2
Availability 3
Local Support 3
General Description:
SCAN is a boot sector, memory and file scanning program, with some
disinfection capabilities. CLEAN is a disinfection program. VSHIELD
and SENTRY are resident file infection and activity checking programs.
The programs are widely available on electronic bulletin board systems
in the U. S. and Canada, at varying version levels. They are widely
used, and supported by third party "front ends", utilities and menuing
systems. The programs are updated regularly, and are supported by the
"Homebase" BBS run by McAfee associates.
Comparison of features and specifications
User Friendliness
Installation
SCAN and CLEAN do not require installation as such. All programs,
however, are distributed in .ZIP format and, beginning with version 72,
require PKUNZIP version 1.10 for unpacking with authenticity
verification.
VSHIELD is distributed in two, mutually exclusive, versions. Both
versions require the use of SCAN's /AV option, which adds an
authentication CRC check onto programs. A second level of protection is
added in one version with file infection checking for known viri. (Note
that the /AV code must be added to all programs before installation of
VSHIELD for it to be effective, and that this will cause programs, such
as Word Perfect, which contain their own "change detection" programming,
to fail.) VSHIELD must be installed "manually" by the user in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file with all desired options and switches.
SENTRY is a change detection program which examines boot sectors, system
software and even memory structure. It is distributed as an
installation program, but as any change to the system (including
software updates) will cause alarm warnings, it must be re-installed
upon each change.
Ease of use
The SCAN program is fairly simple to execute, but provides for a very
large number of options in the form of software "switches". These can
complicate the use of the program, but probably will not be used by most
users. The base scanning function is simple to operate, and novice
users will probably not use any other functions. (The one major
exception is the /AV option. If used on a program that is already "self
checking" it will likely cause the program to terminate, and so must be
identified and removed.)
Use of CLEAN or VSHIELD is complicated by the fact that SCAN must be a
part of the process, but again the basic operation is straightforward.
Help systems
If SCAN is invoked with no specifications, it gives three examples of
use. There is no "online" listing for the software "switches" for the
various programs.
Compatibility
SCAN and the other programs in the suite are updated regularly, and the
latest version should be able to handle almost all viri that a user
would encounter. The addition of the external file option in version 71
is also a major increase in utility.
Company Stability
John McAfee has been producing versions of SCAN for a number of years,
updating on a very regular basis. SCAN is probably the most widely used
virus scanner in North America at present.
Recent versions have been subject to a number of "bug fix" releases.
Company Support
McAfee Associates lists their address and phone number in all
documentation, and support the Homebase BBS.
Documentation
The directions for use of the programs are clear in all cases, if
somewhat concise. However, novice users will find little conceptual
information about viri, or specific information about the various viri
that SCAN will deal with.
The documentation, while not quite alarmist, certainly strongly suggests
that the user, if any virus is ever found, should "retain" the services
of McAfee Associates. Also, outside sources (such as the Hoffman virus
list) often state that viri can be dealt with by, for example, using the
"SCAN /D" option, without warning that this merely deletes and
overwrites the existing file.
Hardware Requirements
No special hardware is required. The SCAN program itself will not work
with local area networks, but a NETSCAN program is available (again as a
separate package which must be separately obtained.)
Performance
For boot, memory and file scanning only, SCAN is measurably faster than
FPROT, although not anywhere as fast as VPCSCAN. SCAN did miss some
viri in testing, but the only viri missed were all, in some way,
crippled.
SCAN does not have the range of functions of FPROT. In addition, FPROT
consistently offered superior "disinfection" capabilities. Versions of
CLEAN tested (and the earlier MDISK) have, in my own experience,
occasionally left the computer or disk in a worse state than the virus.
Local Support
Because of the very wide use, local support of SCAN is more generally
available. The available version, however, is not always the latest, as
many users, in my experience, tend to use the one version they obtain
for at least a year before seeking another.
There are also a number of shareware products that "enhance" the use of
SCAN, such as menuing "front ends" or programs to assist in checking
archived files.
Support Requirements
If at all possible, it would be best if knowledgeable users assisted
with the use of SCAN. The programs are simple enough to be operated by
a novice user, and no harm should result, but best results will be
obtained with the program if someone aware and informed of virus
operation is involved.
General Notes
SCAN is a very useful virus scanning program, and John McAfee is to be
commended for keeping it updated over the years. It has undoubtedly
saved, without exaggeration, many millions of dollars in lost computer
services. That said, one is still left with the impression that the
program, as a program, could benefit from more attention to function,
and less to the promotion of the services of McAfee Associates. The
breaking of the program into different packages for distribution
increases the difficulty in installation and use, and seems only to
serve to hide the true cost of the program, which is very high for
shareware.
copyright 1991 Robert M. Slade
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End of VIRUS-L Digest [Volume 4 Issue 16]
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