> McAfee is in the business of selling antivirus software. All those
> guys have a tendency to exaggerate the threat of viruses (and to
> classify as many security holes as possible as viruses) in order to
> sell tons of software...
I used to watch Mcafee's BBS get hammered every so often when they
took a nuke, and various virus writers taunting them in the message
subs. Funny, in those days the ethical virus writers took an extremely
dim view of damaging code (replication itself was not defined as
damaging) and a slightly dimmer view of people like McAfee. They
actually had (perhaps grudgingly) some respect for a couple of other
AV venders, notably Frisk of F-prot fame. McAfee's Viruscan product
was widely considered to be an inferior scanner by the leading virus
writers.
I have always considered virii to be good things and have collected
well over a thousand, although it has been over a year since I have
paid any attention to the virus scene. They do not scare me because
I know how they work and I can deal with an infection swiftly. I have
spent many fascinating hours disassembling new specimens and learned a
ton. I look forward to the benefits we will reap from Bliss, increased
security, greater awareness, increased caution, better code. It might
hurt a bit, but "No pain, no gain."
Cheers,
Eric