Well, chalk this up to a bee in my bonnet <smile> ... but I got annoyed at the
referenced article and wrote the following -- mailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE First-Ever NT Server Virus Calls for Extra Vigilance
http://www.iw.com/print/current/infrastructure/19990111-firstever.html
a) The (unnamed) author states
"NT is the operating system of choice for most Internet servers."
Excuse me? What data support this assertion of opinion as fact?
http://www.netcraft.com/Survey/Reports/199901/platform.html shows that in December
1998, NT-specific servers accounted for one-fourth of the web servers, while
Apache-specific servers accounted for 58%. Is your writer asserting that most of these
Apache Servers are running on NT rather than some varient of UNIX? That seems hard to
believe.
Moreover, there are literally thousands of viruses affecting MSFT software; this
article implies that this is an isolated instance of virus attack, which is not the
case. Norton suggests that there are 21,000+ known viruses for the DOS/WIN platform --
many are MSFT-application specific.
In fact, a story in your own magazine with the exact same dateline (11 January 1999)
reinforces this point:
"An Excel-Web Mix Can Lead to Big Problems, Says Security Firm"
http://www.iw.com/plweb-sort/idoc.pl?6107+unix+_free_user_+www.internetworld.com..80+Publications+Publications+Web_Week+Web_Week++security%3akeywords
Moreover, "security" is much broader than a virus attack. In fact, W3C talks about web
security:
http://www.w3.org/Security/Faq/wwwsf1.html#Q3
<quote>
Security holes have been found in both Unix and Windows NT server systems, and new
security holes are being found on a regular basis. On the whole Windows NT systems
seem to be more vulnerable at the current time, partly the OS is relatively new and
the big bugs haven't been shaken out, and partly because the NT file system and user
account system are highly complex and difficult to configure correctly.
</quote>
And http://www.w3.org/Security/Faq/wwwsf8.html outlines security problems specific to
NT Web Servers.
The (unnamed) author also asserted "For too long the end user community has assumed
that most virus activity would reside in the Unix world."
Just how many viruses are written for the UNIX platform? More than 21K? I don't think
so. More than 200/month? I don't think so, particularly since the bulk of these are
MSFT application specific.
In fact, the DOE virus database [http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACVirusDatabase.html]
lists **two** UNIX viruses but several screens of DOS/Win95/NT viruses.
b) I wanted to send a letter-to-editor (no e-mail contact info on the above referenced
web page). I selected "reader link" from the LH navigation menu. This is the result:
HTTP/1.0 Invalid Application Name
SO - to find out how to comment on the web site, I had to "know" to look at corporate
information, then follow a link that said it was staff & e-mail addresses (it wasn't,
only executive staff are listed, and they are buried another click below). No listing
of writers and editors. Or even PR staff.
<shaking head>
This is not the way to develop a good relationship with your readers. Or demonstrate
good web design.
Kathy E. Gill
Bellevue WA
> ----------
>
>
> >The latest virus count from Norton includes 21,076 know viruses for the
> >the DOS/WIN platform. This includes a rather extensive list of
> >Word-Macro viruses that only occur with the MS office product line
> >(Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access). The list of know viruses has been
> >expanding by roughly 200 per month for the past couple of years.
> >
> >After remaining steady for a number of years, the virus count for the
> >Macintosh has finally broken the 50 count. Thanks in part to porting MS>
> >Office to Mac and some of the Word-Macro virus do impact the Mac.>
> >
> >I don't recall the number of viruses (including trojan and worm) for the
> >Unix platform; however, I seem to recall a number less than 10.
> >--
> >
> >John Stewart
> >SUPSHIP San Diego
> >Information Systems Security Mgr
>
>
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