EDITORIAL PAGE

GHOSTS, GOBLINS, AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
(and combatting them with Anti-Virus software)

    Since I began using OS/2 in 1990, I've lived a relatively safe and sheltered existence, free of computer viruses. I used IBM's AntiVirus/2 software when it originally came out, but I simply didn't run into situations where I was concerned about computer viruses. Although not foolproof, OS/2 is a pretty reliable platform for thwarting viruses to begin with. Nonetheless, I finally contracted my first virus recently, but fortunately in didn't effect OS/2 directly. Let me clarify...

    As you may remember, I maintain a separate partition on my computer for Windoze 98. Rarely do I use it to access the Internet, but earlier this year I had on occasion used it. Inevitably, I contracted the "WORM_KLEZ.H" virus, which fortunately is not a crippling problem, but is damn annoying nonetheless (for more info on Klez, click HERE. In a nutshell, Klez is a mass-mailing, network-aware worm that spreads by using SMTP and through taking advantage of open network shares. It goes through your address book and sends out e-mails with cryptic subject lines, which, in-turn, haunts both you and your contacts.

    I finally got around to looking into this pest and found it had planted three seemingly innocent files on my C:\ drive (under Windoze):

    C:\WINDOWS\MTX_.EXE
    C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\kdll.dll
    C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.EXE

    I thought this last one was particularly devilish because of its name, afterall, who wants to clobber their "Kernel"? Under Win98, there is no such file as KERNEL32.EXE (however, you do need your KERNEL32.DLL). Very clever, these rascals.

    Anyway, the virus was detected and cleaned using antivirus software for Win98. This caused me to think about the integrity of my OS/2 partitions. Having not looked at OS/2 supported antivirus software for some time, I was pleasantly surprised to find many offerings available, including:

    Most, if not all, of the products listed above have multiple versions for a variety of platforms, including Linux, DOS, NetWare, Solaris, and various flavors of Windoze. Even though Symantec is perhaps the most popular in this area, I tried the Sophos product and was impressed with the results. It was Sophos version (under Win98) which diagnosed my Klez problem and found nothing wrong with my computer under OS/2.

    Bottom-line: Take the time to check out these products. It is refreshing to see that OS/2 hasn't yet been abandoned by at least one important market segment.

    Keep the Faith!

   

- Tim Bryce
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT

Please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail