                            COMPUTER SECURITY
                            -----------------

                      Notes of the presentation to 
                 The Institution of Production Engineers
                            March 21, 1990 by

                     E.A.Bedwell, E.D.P. Specialist
                     ORTECH International (NRC/IRAP)
                 2395 Speakman Dr., Mississauga L5K 1B3               
                        (416) 822-4111, Ext. 261


The writer wishes to thank the Institution of Production Engineers and
it's President for the invitation to make this presentation, and to
express sincere appreciation to David Stang, Ph.D., Director of Research,
National Computer Security Association, for his contribution both to this
paper and to computer security in general.  And I would be very remiss if
I neglected to mention the professional secretarial assistance provided by
Jane  Templeman, who makes our whole team tick like the NRC official time
clock - the one that gives the CBC time signal.

This document is, hopefully, written softly:  after all, it might be
easier to digest if I have to eat my words.  I do not profess to be "the
expert" in the field of computer security; an expert is someone who knows
more and more about less and less until s/he knows absolutely everything
about nothing.  I hope never to stop learning, which means (thankfully)
I'll never be an expert.

               INDEX                                             PAGE
               -----                                             ----
          1.   Definition/Scope of "COMPUTER SECURITY"            2
          2.   Why Should You Be Concerned?                       2
          3.   Types of Security Breaches                         3
          4.   Reasons for Exposure                               7
          5.   General Security Rules (all computer systems)      8
          6.   Viruses:                                           9
                         6.1  History                             9
                         6.2  Effect                             10
                         6.3  Why do people do it?               10
                         6.4  Symptoms                           10
                         6.5  Concerns                           11
                         6.6  Known Virus Software (1)           11
                         6.7  Quick Guide to Virus Names (1)     12
                         6.8  Table of Virus Effects             16
                         6.9  Virus Detector/Antidote software   19
                         6.10  Trojan Horses                     20
          7.   PC Rules of Thumb                                 22
          8.   Easy Tricks for PC Security                       23
          9.   So You're Infected (Cure)                         24
          10.  Summary:  What Can You Do?                        25
          11.  Security Policy:  Points for Consideration        26
          12.  To run SCAN (included on this diskette)           29

(1)  David Stang, Ph.D, "Network Security in the Federal Government,",
     January, 1990, p.168-169 (updated by E.A.Bedwell, March, 1990)










                                    - 2 -
Tonight's topic is "Computer Security," a subject near and dear to my
heart after catching fraud a few times, and cracking system security a
few times.  The only unfortunate part of this evening is that I have
enough material to cover an intensive 2 or 3 day seminar and I only have
something over an hour, so in addition to extensive notes from this
presentation, I've put an article on viruses, and a PC virus detector
program on diskette for you.


1.   SCOPE OF COMPUTER SECURITY

Computer security relates to any potential loss of information or your
ability to operate, regardless of the source of the problem.  Of course,
all the publicity about computer security is going to the virus
situation.  I don't want to dissuade anyone from their concerns about
viruses, because it's definitely a growing problem, and if you get hit,
you'll be sorry you ever laid eyes on a computer.  But, current estimates
indicate that viruses represent only 3% of all the computer problems now
occurring.  Of course, if you're one of the 3%, like CNIB or Barclay's
Bank Canada were last fall, you'll feel like you're the only one on
earth.  The difference between viruses and other computer security issues
is apparently one of control:  I hope to convince you that you have as
much control over viruses and as little control over the other 97% of
problems as to make them equal threats to the safety of your computer.

I'm going to get to viruses later, their prevention, detection and cure,
but I'd like first like to cover the other major problems that affect
computer security - the other 97% - and I'd like to start with reasons
why you should be concerned about security.


2.   WHY SHOULD YOU BE CONCERNED?

Your data is a valuable asset, just like premises, equipment, raw
materials and inventory.  Because so much of modern business depends on
computers - financial systems, engineering design, medical diagnosis,
production and safety control - the destructive potential is greater
every year.  There has been more than one company that's suffered great
losses, and even gone under because of the loss of things like their
accounts receivable records:  no one is going to pay you if you don't
send them a bill, and if they get word of your inability to invoice them,
their darned unlikely to volunteer payment - so you're in a financial
mess.  The same goes for your design information, production data, the
consequences if safety control systems malfunction, or even the simple
loss of your customer list.

Another reason why you should be concerned is, too often, people don't
think about computer security until it's too late.  There's a saying in
my industry that, "He who laughs last probably made a backup."  Another
saying is, "Experience is something you don't get until just after you
needed it the most."  Well, if it means the life of your company, or the
loss of potentially millions of dollars, or even just the information on
your home computer, it might be wise to get at least some basic knowledge
before the disaster strikes.











                                  - 3 -

3.   TYPES OF SECURITY BREACHES

Now that the 'why' is out of the way, let's break down the 97% of
problems.  These are not in a specific order, but just as they came to
me.  Nor have I attempted to attach percentages to each type of risk,
because very few computer crimes are actually reported, so any figures
that anyone could estimate would not be realistic:


FRAUD/THEFT
By far the biggest problem is fraud or theft.  Some examples of this are:

     CHAOS - 1987 - Hamburg  ->  NASA data bank info sold to USSR

     Foreign exchange              }    famous because of big $
     Electronic Funds Transfer     }    amounts, and because of the
     Insider Trading               }    publicity they've received

     Most common:  Cookie jar technique - e.g., interest, income tax
                   (aka 'Salami' technique - take a little and no one
                   will notice)

Specific examples I've caught were in Payroll (no crash on < or =),
Accounts Payable (dummy companies), Purchasing (failed reasonableness
test), and Accounts Receivable (failed balance routine).  These were all
thefts of money.

Another example of theft which is very interesting is the 28-year-old
Canadian who was arrested at UNISYS in Pittsburgh on Dec. 13/89 - what he
is alleged to have stolen was NCR's trade secrets - to the tune of
US$68M, which comes under a different Canadian law from monetary theft.



MALICIOUS DAMAGE / VANDALISM
The next major type of computer security breach is the disgruntled
employee syndrome.  Their favourite is the logic bomb or time bomb:  on a
certain date or condition after they leave the company, something's going
to happen, such as at the health centre in LA where all prescriptions
suddenly multiplied by 2.  That's really serious, even compared to the
logic bomb that superzaps all your files off the face of the earth,
because someone could die.  At least with a superzap, you can recover if
you've been backing up and have a disaster recovery plan in effect.  Pure
physical vandalism occurs more often at educational institutions, but is
still a serious threat.  I wouldn't let me near your machine if I was
angry with you - my vandalism would be difficult to detect (and expensive
to repair).  A simple application of a magnetized screwdriver ......



LACK OF SECURITY PLANNING IN SYSTEM DESIGN STAGE
One of the biggest logic bombs that's going to occur is on January 1/2000.

Do you know how many computer systems use a 2 digit number for the year? 
Do you know how much work it's going to be to adapt systems to recognize
00 as being greater than 99?  My grandmother was born in 1886, and most
systems show her birth year as 99.  If she lives to the year 1999, I
wonder if they'll start sending her the baby bonus.  This time bomb is not
malicious damage, it's pure lack of planning at the system design stage. 






                                  - 4 -

(Lack of Security Planning - continued)

Things like balance checks and reasonableness tests are not built into the
system from the beginning, and it's not easy to put them in later.  Users
must participate at the system design stage, because only they know what's
reasonable and what can be balanced.  Don't expect a computer technician
to know everything there is to know about your job.




DISTORTED SENSE OF HUMOUR
Then there's the practical joker - the one who thinks it's funny to break
into the system to see what he can change, or create some dumb message to
appear on your screen.  That's what happened at IBM when the infamous
Christmas tree appeared 2 years ago (1987).  The joke was three-fold  -
first it analyzed your electronic mail distribution lists and reproduced
itself to send to everyone you normally send messages to - this clogged
the system up with people reading more messages than normal.  The second
part was a little more technical - everyone who read the message caused a
separate load of the offending program to take up space in memory, unlike
most systems where two or more people who are doing the same thing are
sharing one load of the software.  This clogged memory up so that nothing
else could run.  There was one more part to this:  there were delay timers
built into the program so it deliberately ran very slowly.  The result was
that the largest computer network in the world was shut down for 4 hours. 
Someone must have had a great need for a power trip.



MISTAKE
Next, there's fumble fingers:  you know, the one who keys the formula in
as 600 grams instead of 60 grams, or the estimated production time of 2
hours instead of 2 days.  Or the one who almost took me into court when
he blamed "the computer" for a mistake.  Without going into details about
that incident, I can say that going through the grilling by several
lawyers in a preliminary investigation was not the high point of my
career.  What saved the situation (for me and the organization) was audit
trailing:  every time a transaction was entered, the system recorded the
terminal i.d., the user i.d., the date and the time.  It also saved a copy
of the record as it existed prior to the transaction taking place.  A more
common mistake, though, is to unlatch a diskette door before the light
goes out.  Few people realize that the FAT (file attributes table) is the
last thing written on a disk, and you can corrupt the FAT by removing the
disk too early.


"EVERYONE DOES IT" SYNDROME
Then there's everyone's favourite:  copying software.  Believe it or not,
in Canada, that falls under the Copyright law, not under theft, but it
has been successfully prosecuted.  Even if you reverse engineer it and
make some minor changes, it will come under the "look and feel" test of
the Copyright law - if it looks and feels the same as the original, you
can be prosecuted.  Copying software is illegal, and your company as the
registered owner could be held liable if it is detected.








                                  - 5 -

ILLEGAL ACCESS
Many major computer crimes are perpetrated by illegal access:  the 14-
year old who broke into NASA from his basement computer room is just one
example.  There is password software on all larger machines, and it's not
difficult to put it on PCs.  On the larger machines, one of the major
problems is not changing the standard passwords that are set when the
machine is delivered:  the standard user-level password may be USER, the
standard operator password may be OPERATOR, and the standard field repair
person's password may be REPAIR, and so on.  Guess how I've cracked
security a couple of times.  In a 1988 article by Dr. Cliff Stoll in
"Computers and Security,", he reported that in 10 months of systematic
testing on computers attached to the US Defense Data Network (Milnet),
access was gained in 13% of the attempts simply by guessing at passwords!

There should be some rules applied to passwords:  not less than 7 or 8
characters,  must be changed at least every 60 days,  don't use common
things like names (another way I've broken security), don't share it
under any circumstances and, for heaven's sake, don't post it on the
front of your machine or leave it where someone can find it.  It's your
personal PIN - just like the money machine - and the information you're
dealing with is worth money.  Some of the most difficult passwords to
break (take it from me) are "two words reversed" (e.g., boardwall,
hornshoe, cuptea), or foreign language words (e.g., coupdegrace,
millegrazie, caliente).  Nonsense is good, too:  geebleurql is nice. 

If you're installing password security on a PC, consider whether you
should have it so tight that there is no recourse to the DOS level or no
ability to boot from the A: drive.  You'd need really good password
software (or a good technician on staff) if you have both of these
facilities - otherwise you can lock yourself out - but it's my preference
(especially for the guy who's wiped his root directory twice).


PHYSICAL SECURITY
Finally, another area that affects computer security or your ability to
carry on computer operations, and one that is often overlooked, is simple
physical security:  keys, thermal shock, vibration, dirt, water, fire,
visibility of information, steady power supply, discharge of static
electricity, magnetic fields, are all relevant to security.  We have one
man in our network who should have (a) cabling bolted to his computer and
the floor, (b) a key to his unit, and (c) dust protectors (as well as
password access only without recourse to the DOS level).  

When it comes to thermal shock, if you work in an area where the heat is
reduced on winter weekends, I strongly recommend you leave your unit
running over the weekend - just lock the keyboard.  If the air
conditioning is shut down, turn your unit off, and don't turn it on until
the temperature is  23C or less.  And please don't leave your machine
sitting in the sun, or in front of an open window to attract dust.  The
internal temperature raises within 20 mins. or so to >30C, and the effects
of thermal shock are such that it can, first, rock memory chips out of
their sockets, and, worse, misalign the read heads on your disk drive so
that nothing can be read.











                                  - 6 -

(Physical Security - continued)

Vibration, too, is a source of problems, especially for drives.  The read
heads actually float over the surface of drives, not on them the way a
record player needle does, and the space tolerance between is measured in
Angstroms (metric version of microinches).  Vibration can cause the head
to hit the drive, and you can say goodbye to whatever was written there.

If you're in a particularly sensitive field, and your information is what
might be called top secret to your company, you might also want to look
at two protection devices:  one is encryption, and the other is Tempest
hardware or shielding.  Encryption involves translating your data using
algorithms to something unreadable, and de-coding it when you need it.  It
uses a "key" to choose the algorithm - dont' lose the key!  It comes in a
few forms:  software controlled encryption, hardware based encryption, or
a combination of the two.  Most encryptors work with standard algorithms,
but defense departments and other high-security installations prefer
random algorithms.    Tempest hardware, or shielding, protects against
sniffing of signals. ( Signal emanation surveillance is called
"sniffing.")  I don't have a computer here to demonstrate this, but if
you take an old battery-operated transistor radio and set the dial to the
bottom of the AM band around 520, try passing it within a foot of your
computer.  Your ear might not pick up the individual signals, but I assure
you there's equipment that does.  That's why the US Army was blasting rock
music around the Vatican Embassy when Noriega was there - to mask signals.

More important to the average user, though, is avoidance of electro-
magnetic fields (such as ringing phones near a disk or disk drive), and
having an automatic disk head 'parker' that moves the heads to a safe zone
every few seconds.  That way, something like a brief power failure is less
likely to cause a "head crash" on the disk.

Simple visibility of information is a risk.  Recently I went to a bank
with a court order in hand to give me access to an account.  The clerk
simply turned the terminal toward me and, if I'd wanted to bother, I could
have had the account numbers of two other people with identical names. 
There is screen saving software that will blank your screen after an
inactivity duration you choose, and personnel should be made conscious
that unauthorized viewing of information is a security risk.  And watch
what your staff throw out on paper, too.

When it comes to fire and water, there are two basic rules that everyone
can follow:  first, don't smoke around the PC, and second, don't feed the
PC coffee and donuts.  You might be able to save a keyboard or some parts
with a bath in distilled water, possibly followed by drying with a warm
hair dryer, but there's no guarantee.  I prefer pure isopropyl alcohol -
without the hairdryer so I don't get fried in the process.  Don't blast a
computer with a fire extinguisher if you can avoid it.  If you do have a
fire or a flood, though, you'd better have a tested disaster recovery
plan, and your backups stored off-site.


All of these issues are reasonably within your control:  fraud, theft,
disgruntled employees, practical jokers, fumble fingers, software copying
and physical security, at least as much as the infamous viruses that are
around, but let's take a look at why you're at risk.









                                  - 7 -

4.   REASONS FOR EXPOSURE

Concentration of data in one place

Instantaneous adjustment

Alteration without a trace

Lack of visible records

Complexity of the system

Networking

Technical persons can befuddle

General ignorance by non-techie and management

Detection problems

Lack of training

Security checks in programs not specified

Systems not documented

Limited staff resource for programming/management

No separation of duties

Possibility of enormous losses remaining undetected

Reluctance to report -   Embarrassment
                         Lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute
                         Cost to prosecute outweighs recovery
                         Company policy ("Press would have a field day")




























                                  - 8 -

5.   GENERAL SECURITY RULES (All Systems, big and small)

Disaster Recovery }      Backup    Backup    Backup
     Plan         }      Restore (test it to make sure it works)

Store your backup off-site (not in your car!)

Physical security 

Password for access control (don't stick your password on 
     the front of your machine!)

Access to menu only - not to system control level

Reasonableness tests

Balance checks (rounding: up, down, (out?); cross-calculations

Audit trails - all records (terminal i.d., user i.d., date and 
     time stamping, history record retention)

Fall-through coding (if it doesn't meet a condition, does it go to limbo)

Payroll/Accounts payable:  don't pay the same # twice

Fault tolerance level supported   (user friendly/hostile -
     balance between fault tolerance & productivity)

Call back or no answer on dial-up systems

UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply, or allowance for graceful
     degradation) - or at least an automatic head parker

Logical view rights  (your user 'privileges' allows access only to the
     data you need to see, e.g., accounting clerks don't need to see
     production formulae)

Multi-user environment:  protection against deadly embrace

Automatic logoff on inactivity timer / Screen saver

Policy statement re purchasing/use/theft/illegal 
     software, etc.

Encryption (?) - don't lose the key!

Shielding ("Tempest" hardware for secure systems)

Educate users















                                  - 9 -

6.   VIRUSES

As in medicine, a virus needs an 'organism' to which it may attach itself,
and a virus is 'contagious'.  

In the case of computers, a virus is usually a destructive piece of code
which attaches to a working program, such as your word processor,
spreadsheet or CAD/CAM software.  Viruses are usually written to detect
any load of a computer file that has an extension of .EXE, .COM, .OVL,
.BIN - such extensions representing executable programs.  Often, the
virus loads itself into memory, then loads the program you just called, so
the virus is sitting at the front.  Then when you exit the program, the
virus code calls for the re-writing of the program back onto the disk -
with the virus still sitting at the front.  Other viruses simply go
straight into your boot sector, so they get loaded every time you turn on
your machine.  Some do both.  

However they 'hide', and whatever they attach to, they got to your machine
on an infected diskette.  If you are infected and then copy your software
to use on another machine, guess what happens?  Right!  That's where the
'contagious' element comes in.

In 1989, more viruses were discovered than in all previous years.  There
were over 110 at the end of the year, and 7 were discovered in December
alone.  Sources have been from as far away as Pakistan and Bulgaria.

Only .004% have reported infections, but most are not reported.  Consider
this:  if only 1% were infected, that would be 1/2 million units in the
U.S. alone.  At a cost ranging from $300 to $3,000 per unit to recover,
the problem starts to impact the economy as well as the productivity of
staff at your organization.  It cost one Texas company US$10M to shut
down their 3,000-unit network for 4 days to find 35 infected units.

One of the major problems with viruses is that 90% of the users who
recover are re-infected within 30 days.  One person at my organization
was re-infected 7 times in 2 months!   Most reinfections occur for one of
two reasons (not necessarily in this order):  your back-up was infected,
or it was a virus that hid in the boot sector on track 0, and track 0 is
not re-written by the standard "FORMAT" command (only a low-level format
will get rid of a track 0 virus).  Be careful of some new software as
well:  there has been more than one instance of shrink-wrapped software
being infected (software companies have disgruntled employees, too, it
seems).



6.1  HISTORY

1959 - Scientific American article about 'worms'
1963 - caught my first two frauds (Payroll & Accounts Payable)
1970 - Palo Alto lab - worm which directed activities
1982 - Anonymous Apple II worm
1984 - Scientific American CoreWare Series:  held contest to
       find the most clever/difficult to detect 'bug'
1987 - Apparent change from intellectual exercise to 
       dangerous activity.








                                 - 10 -

6.2  EFFECT

Massive destruction:     Reformatting
                         Programs erased
                         Data file(s) modified/erased

Partial/Selective destruction:  Modification of data/disk space
                         File allocation tables altered
                         Bad sectors created
                         If match with event, alter or delete

Random havoc:            Altering keystroke values
                         Directories wiped out
                         Disk assignments modified
                         Data written to wrong disk

Annoyance:               Message
                         Execution of RAM resident programs
                              suppressed
                         System suspension





6.3  WHY DO PEOPLE DO IT?

Financial gain
Publicity
Intellectual exercise
Terrorism/Fanaticism/Vandalism
Revenge
Just plain wierd





6.4  SYMPTOMS

Change in file size (Usually on .COM, .EXE
     .OVL, .BIN, .SYS or .BAT files)
Change in update time or date
Common update time or date
Decrease in available disk or memory space
Unexpected disk access
Printing and access problems
Unexpected system crashes
















                                 - 11 -


6.5  CONCERNS

Variety:  Virus vs Bug vs Worm vs Trojan Horse vs Superzapper
          vs Trap Doors vs Piggybacking vs Impersonation
          vs Wiretapping vs Emulation
Strains / Complexity / Growing Sophistication
Bulletin board use and free software
Largest threats from taking computer work home
Kids using same machine at home
Networked mainframe systems
Travel/airline computers (AA wiped out early 1989)
Work message systems (E-Mail)
POS terminals
Banking / Credit Cards / Money Machines
Income Tax records
Health records


     **************************************************************
     *    Global disaster may be on the way                       *
     *    No specific laws to deal with malicious programming     *
     *    No single national centre to gather data on infections  *
     **************************************************************







6.6  KNOWN VIRUS SOFTWARE

12 viruses (and their strains) account for 90% of all PC infections:
           _
          |_|  Pakistani Brain
          |_|  Jerusalem
          |_|  Alameda
          |_|  Cascade (1701/1704)
          |_|  Ping Pong
          |_|  Stoned
          |_|  Lehigh
          |_|  Den Zuk
          |_|  Datacrime (1280/1168)
          |_|  Fu Manchu
          |_|  Vienna (DOS 62)
          |_|  April First

















                                    - 12 -

6.7  QUICK GUIDE TO VIRUS NAMES (Cross referenced)

Name           Synonym-1      Synonym-2      Synonym-3      Synonym-4

1168           Datacrime-B
1184           Datacrime II
1280           Datacrime      Columbus Day   October 12th   Friday 13th
1536           Zero Bug
1701/1704      Cascade      Falling Letters  Falling Tears Autumn Leaves
1704           Cascade
1704           Cascade-B
1704           Cascade-C
1704           Cascade-D
1704 Format    1704           Blackjack      Falling Letters
1704           Blackjack      1704 Format    Falling Letters
1808           Jerusalem      Black Box/Hole Israeli   PLO  1808/1813
1813           Jerusalem      Black Box/Hole Israeli   PLO  1808/1813
2086           Fu Manchu
2930
3066           Traceback
3551           Syslock
3555
123nhalf
405
500 Virus      Golden Gate
512 Virus      Friday 13th    COM virus
648            Vienna         DOS 62         DOS 68         Austrian
AIDS           VGA2CGA        Taunt
AIDS Info Disk
Alabama
Alameda Virus  Yale           Merritt        Peking         Seoul
Alameda-B      Sacramento     Yale C
Alameda-C
Amstrad
Anti
Apple II GS    LodeRunner
April 1st      SURIV01        SURIV02
April 1st-B
Ashar
Austrian       648            Vienna         DOS 62         DOS 68
Australian     Stoned         New Zealand    Marijuana
Autumn Leaves  Cascade        1701/1704     Falling Letters Falling Tears
Basit virus    Brain          Pakistani Brain  Lehore
Black Box      Jerusalem      Israeli        Black Hole     1808/1803 PLO
Black Hole     Jerusalem      Black Box      Israeli        1808/1813 PLO
Black Hole     Russian
Blackjack      1704           1704 Format    Falling Letters
Bouncing Ball  Vera Cruz      Ping Pong      Bouncing Dot   Italian virus
Bouncing Dot   Italian virus  Bouncing Ball  Vera Cruz      Ping Pong
Brain-B        Brain-HD       Harddisk Brain Houston virus
Brain-C
Brain-HD       Harddisk Brain Houston virus  Brain-B












                                 - 13 -

Brain          Pakistani Brain  Basit virus  Lehore
Cascade        1701/1704    Falling Letters  Falling Tears  Autumn Leaves
Cascade(-B-C-D)     1704
Century        Oregon         Jan.1, 2000
Century-B
Chroma
Clone
Clone-B
Columbus Day   1280/Datacrime October 12th   Friday 13th
COM virus      512 virus      Friday 13th
COM-B          Friday 13th-B
COM-C          Friday 13th-C
Cookie virus   Sesame Street
Dark Avenger
Datacrime      1280
Datacrime-B    1168
Datacrime-II   1184
dBASE virus
Den Zuk        Search         Venezuelan
Disk Killer    Ogre
Do-Nothing (don't believe it!)
DOS-62         Vienna         DOS-68         648       Austrian
DOS-68         Vienna         DOS-62         648       Austrian
DOS-62         UNESCO
DOS-62-B
Falling Tears  Cascade        1701/1704     Falling Letters Autumn Leaves
Falling Letters 1704          Blackjack      1704 Format
Falling Letters Cascade       1701/1704      Falling Tears  Autumn Leaves
Falling Letters-Boot     Ping Pong B
Fat 12         Swap           Israeli Boot
FluShot4  (a corrupted version of a virus detector - use FluShot4+)
Friday 13th    1280/Datacrime Columbus Day   October 12th   COM
Friday 13th-B       COM-B          512 
Friday 13th-C       COM-C
Fumble         Type
Fu Manchu      2086 
Ghost-Boot
Ghost-COM
Golden Gate    500 Virus
Golden Gate -B
Golden Gate-C  Mazatlan
Golden Gate-D
Harddisk Brain Brain-B        Brain-HD       Houston virus
Holland Girl   Sylvia
Houston virus  Brain-B        Brain-HD       Harddisk Brain
Icelandic Disk-Crunching-virus               Saratoga 2
Icelandic 1    Saratoga 1
Icelandic 2    System virus
INIT29
IRQ v. 41
Israeli        Friday13       Jerusalem      Black Box/Hole 1808/1813 PLO
Israeli Boot   Swap           Fat 12












                                 - 14 -

Italian virus  Bouncing Ball  Vera Cruz      Ping Pong      Bouncing Dot
Jan.1, 2000    Century        Oregon
Jerusalem      Israeli        Black Box/Hole 1808/1813  PLO  Friday 13th
Jerusalem-B    New Jerusalem
Jerusalem-C
Jerusalem-D
Jerusalem-E
Jork
Key
Lehigh
Lehigh-2
Lehore         Brain          Pakistani Brain Basit
Lisbon
LodeRunner     Apple II GS
MacMag         Peace virus
Madonna  (while the nice music plays, your hard disk is being destroyed)
Mailson
Marijuana      New Zealand    Stoned
Mazatlan       Golden Gate-C
Merritt        Alameda virus  Yale           Peking         Seoul
Mix1
Music virus    Oropax virus
New Jerusalem  Jerusalem-C
New Zealand    Stoned         Marijuana      Australian
New Zealand-B  Stoned-B
New Zealand-C  Stoned-C
nVIR
October 12th   1280/Datacrime Columbus Day   Friday 13th
Ohio
Ogre           Disk Killer
Oregon         Century
Oropax virus   Music virus
Pakistani Brain  Lehore       Basit          Brain
Palette        Zero Bug
Payday
Peace Virus    MacMag
Pearson
Peking         Alameda virus  Yale           Merritt        Seoul
Pentagon
Ping Pong      Bouncing Dot   Italian virus  Bouncing Ball  Vera Cruz
Ping Pong-B   Falling Letters-Boot
PLO            Jerusalem      Friday 13th    1808/1813      Israeli
Russian        Black Hole
Sacramento     Alameda-B      Yale C
Saratoga 1     Icelandic 1
Saratoga 2     Icelandic Disk-Crunching-virus
Scores
Search         Den Zuk        Venezuelan
Seoul          Alameda virus  Yale           Merritt        Peking
Sesame Street  Cookie virus
SF virus
Shoe virus     UIUC virus     (see also Terse Shoe)












                                 - 15 -

Shoe virus-B
Stoned         New Zealand    Marijuana      Australian
Stoned-B       New Zealand-B
Stoned-C       New Zealand-C
SUMDOS
Sunday
SRI   (destroys anti-viral programs before it damages your system)
SURIV01        April 1st
SURIV02        April 1st
SURIV03
Swap           Israeli Boot   Fat 12
Sylvia         Holland Girl
SYS
Syslock        3551
System virus   Icelandic 2
Taunt          AIDS           VGA2CGA
Terse Shoe     (see also Shoe virus)
TP04VIR        Vacsina
TP25VIR        Yankee Doodle
TP33VIR        Yankee Doodle
TP34VIR        Yankee Doodle
TP38VIR        Yankee Doodle
TP42VIR        Yankee Doodle
TP44VIR        Yankee Doodle
TP46VIR        Yankee Doodle
Traceback      3066
Typo (boot)
Typo (COM)     Fumble
UIUC virus     Shoe virus
UNESCO         DOS-62
Venezuelan     Den Zuk        Search
Vera Cruz      Ping Pong      Bouncing Dot   Italian Virus  Bouncing Ball
Vacsina        TP04VIR
VGA2CGA        AIDS           Taunt
Vienna         DOS-62         DOS-68         648            Austrian
Vienna-B
Yale           Alameda virus  Merritt        Peking         Seoul
Yale C         Alameda-B      Sacramento
Yankee Doodle  TP25VIR
Yankee Doodle  TP33VIR
Yankee Doodle  TP34VIR
Yankee Doodle  TP38VIR
Yankee Doodle  TP42VIR
Yankee Doodle  TP44VIR
Yankee Doodle  TP46VIR
Zero Bug       1536


















                                 - 16 -

6.8  TABLE OF VIRUS EFFECTS (by virus name)

This information is a reformatted version of that which was made
available to the writer by the National Computer Security Association,
Suite 309, 4401-A Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20008.

This list is not as complete as the list of names preceding.  Since
viruses must be created and caught before they can be analyzed for the
type of information that follows, this list will never be as complete as
the list of names.  In some instances, you may have been infected with a
variation of the name.  You might wish to check this list for all
possible variations of a name you've found on the list of synonyms.

Explanation of codes used under "What it does", and analysis of frequency
of occurrence of each effect:

     EFFECT                                  #  OCCURRENCES  %
     ------                                  -  -----------  -
1.   Virus uses self-encryption              13             12
2.   Virus remains resident                  83             74
3.   Infects COMMAND.COM                      8              7
4.   Infects .COM files                      62             55
5.   Infects .EXE files                      41             37
6.   Infects .OVL files                      15             13
7.   Infects floppy disk boot sector         36             32
8.   Infects hard disk boot sector           14             13
9.   Infects partition table                  1              1
10.  Corrupts or overwrites boot sector      31             28
11.  Affects system run-time operation       53             47
12.  Corrupts program or overlay files       57             51
13.  Corrupts data files                      4              4
14.  Formats or erases all/part of the disk  17             15
15.  Corrupts file linkage (FAT)              9              8
16.  Overwrites program                       4              4
17.  Mac virus (as opposed to PC virus)       2              2


                 Increase in  Disinfector
VIRUS NAME       Prog'm size  that works     What it does
----------       -----------  -----------    ------------

1168/Datacrime B    1168      SCAN/D         1, 4, 12, 14
1184/Datacrime 2    1184                     1, 4, 5, 12, 14
123nhalf            3907                     2, 5, 11, 13
1280/Datacrime      1280      SCAN/D         1, 4, 12, 14
1514/Datacrime II   1514      SCAN/D         1, 4, 5, 12, 14
1536/Zero Bug       1536      SCAN/D         2, 4, 11, 12
1701/Cascade        1701      M-1704         1, 2, 4, 11, 12
1704/Format         1704      M-1704         1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 14
1704/Cascade        1704      M-1704         1, 2, 4, 11, 12
1704/Cascade-B      1704      M-1704         1, 2, 4, 11, 12
1704/Cascade-C      1704                     1, 2, 4, 11, 12
1704/Cascade-D      1704                     1, 2, 4, 11, 12
2930                2930      SCAN/D         2, 4, 5, 12










                                 - 17 -

3066/Traceback      3066      M-3066         2, 4, 5, 12
3551/Syslock        3551      SCAN/D         1, 4, 5, 12, 13
3555                3555                     1, 3, 4
405                           SCAN/D         4, 16
AIDS                          SCAN/D         4, 16
AIDS Info Disk         0      AIDSOUT        11
Alabama             1560      SCAN/D         2, 5, 11, 12, 15
Alameda-B                                    2, 7, 10
Alameda-C                                    2, 7, 10
Alameda/Yale                  MDISK          2, 7, 10
Amstrad              847      SCAN/D         4, 12
April 1st                                    2, 4, 11
April 1st-B                                  2, 5, 11
Ashar                         MDISK          2, 7, 10
Black Hole          1808                     2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15
Brain-B                                      2, 7, 8, 10
Brain-C                                      2, 7, 8, 10
Century                                      2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15
Century-B                                    2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15
Clone-B                                      2, 7, 10, 15
Clone virus                                  2, 7, 8, 10
dBASE               1864      SCAN/D         2, 4, 11, 12, 13
DOS-62-B                                     3, 4, 11
DOS-62-UNESCO        650                     3, 4, 11
Dark Avenger        1800      M-DAV          2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15
Datacrime II-B      1917      SCAN/D         1, 3, 4, 5, 12, 14
Disk Killer                   MDISK          2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Do-Nothing           608      SCAN/D         4, 12
Fri 13th COM         512      SCAN/D         4, 12
Fri 13th COM-B       512                     4, 12
Fri 13th COM-C       512                     4, 12
Fu Manchu           2086      SCAN/D         2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Ghost-Boot ver.               MDISK          2, 7, 8, 10, 11
Ghost-COM ver.      2351      SCAN/D         4, 10, 12
Golden Gate                                  2, 7, 10, 14
Golden Gate-B                                2, 7, 10, 14
Golden Gate-C                                2, 7, 10, 14
Golden Gate-D                                2, 7, 10, 14
IRQ v. 41                                    4, 5, 11
Icelandic I          642      SCAN/D         2, 5, 11, 12
Icelandic II         661      SCAN/D         2, 5, 11, 12
Italian/Ping Pong             MDISK          2, 7, 10, 11
Italian-B                     MDISK          2, 7, 8, 10, 11
Jerusalem           1808      SCAN/D/A       2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Jerusalem-B         1808      M-JERUSLM      2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Jerusalem-C         1808                     2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Jerusalem-D         1808                     2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Jerusalem-E         1808                     2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15
Jork                                         2, 7, 10
Lehigh                        SCAN/D         2, 3, 12, 14, 16
Lehigh-2                                     2, 3, 12, 14, 15, 16
Lisbon               648      SCAN/D         4, 12












                                 - 18 -

MIX1                1618      SCAN/D         2, 5, 11, 12
New Jerusalem       1808      M-JERUSLM      2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
New Zealand                   MD             7
New Zealand-B                                7, 8
New Zealand-C                                7, 8
nVIR                                         11, 17
Ohio                          MDISK          2, 7, 10
Oropax                                       2, 4
Pakistani Brain               MDISK          2, 7, 10
Palette/Zero Bug    1536                     2, 3, 4,
Payday              1808      M-JERUSLM      2, 4, 5, 6, 12
Pentagon                      MDISK          7, 10
SF Virus                                     2, 7, 11, 14
SRI                 1808                     2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
SURIV01              897      SCAN/D         2, 4, 11, 12
SURIV02             1488      SCAN/D         2, 5, 11, 12
SURIV03                       SCAN/D         2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
SYS                                          2, 7, 8, 11, 12
SYS-B                                        2, 7, 8, 11, 12
SYS-C                                        2, 7, 8, 11, 12
Saratoga             632      SCAN/D         2, 5, 11, 12
Saratoga-2                                   2, 5, 11, 12
Scores                                       11, 17
Search HD                                    2, 7, 8, 10, 11
Search-B                                     2, 7, 10, 11
Search/Den Zuk                MDISK          2, 7, 10, 11
Shoe virus                                   2, 7, 8, 10
Shoe virus-B                                 2, 7, 10
Stoned/Marijuana              MDISK/P        2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15
SumDOS              1500                     4, 5, 14
Sunday              1636      SCAN/D         2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Swap/Israeli Boot             MDISK          2, 7, 10
Sylvia/Holland      1332      SCAN/D         2, 4, 12
Terse Shoe virus                             2, 7, 10
Typo (Boot)                   MDISK          2, 7, 8, 10, 11
Typo/Fumble (COM)    867      SCAN/D         2, 4, 11, 12
Vacsina/TP04VIR                              2, 4, 5
Vienna-B             648      SCAN/D         2, 4, 5, 12
Vienna/648           648      M-VIENNA       4, 12
Yankee Doodle       2855      SCAN/D         2, 4, 5, 11, 12
Yankee Doodle/TP25VIR                        2, 4, 5
Yankee Doodle/TP33VIR                        2, 4, 5
Yankee Doodle/TP34VIR                        2, 4, 5
Yankee Doodle/TP38VIR                        2, 4, 5
Yankee Doodle/TP42VIR                        2, 4, 5
Yankee Doodle/TP44VIR                        2, 4, 5
Yankee Doodle/TP46VIR                        2, 4, 5

















                                    - 19 -

6.9  VIRUS DETECTOR AND ANTIDOTE SOFTWARE

          *** None offer complete protection ***

Some do NOT test for boot sector viruses, modification of the command
interpreter, branching into the BIOS, etc., unconventional things that
nasty viruses are known to do.  This is not a comprehensive list, but
you'll have an idea of what's available, either commercially or through
public domain.  Look for a product that will detect as many of the
effects identified in the previous section as possible.  Warning:  some
highly publicized virus detectors only search for ONE (1) virus!  Others
are more sophisticated, and may even act as a disinfector as well as a
detector.


Old virus symptoms vs file changes
Antidote
Antigen

Bombsqad
Canary
Cylene-4
C-4
Disk Defender * recommended (add-on board - write-protects hard disk)
Disk watcher
Dr. Panda Utilities
IBM - COMPare in DOS
Mace vaccine
Magic Bullets
Syringe
Sentry * recommended for systems booted regularly
Vaccine
Viraid
Virus-Pro * recommended for large corporate environments
Shareware:   Novirus
             Flushot4+
             Virusck
             Viruscan

Plus what's shown on preceding pages as a "Disinfector that works".  I
also have a list of over 100 shareware products that do everything from
detect and/or disinfect to write-protecting the hard drive and requiring
password access .... but my fingers are getting tired from typing at this
point, and there are more important things to cover - after all, if
you're careful, you won't need a list of detectors/disinfectors.



















                                 - 20 -

6.10  TROJAN HORSES

While a "virus" is something hidden within another program that is
waiting to make your system really sick, and a "worm" may be something
that lives on its own and usually transmits through networked computers, 
a "Trojan Horse" is a little of both, so I've included it with this virus
section if only to warn you of its existence.  It lives on its own as a
program, and will bring you down like Helen of Troy's soldiers.  "I
wouldn't copy something like that," you say.  Well, like Helen's horse,
it comes disguised.  It will purport to do something really neat, like
compress files (so you have more disk space available), sort your
directories (so you can find things more easily), or play chess or
another game with you.  In actuality, it's really just waiting to do the
things that viruses do - trash your files, scramble your boot sector, fry
your FAT, or erase your hard disk.  It doesn't usually do anything it
promises to do.

The following are just a few examples of the known Trojan Horses, most
of which come from bulletin boards.  Please don't misunderstand me, most
BB operators are honest people who are trying to help the computer
industry as a whole, but they can't be held responsible for the people
who might dial into their BB and leave a disaster waiting until the next
caller(s).


SCRNSAVE.COM:  This is supposed to blank your screen after x seconds of
               inactivity, thus preventing image burn-in or apparently
               offering a sense of security;  say goodbye to your files
               while it erases your harddisk.

TSRMAP:        For the 'sophisticated' user who uses Terminate and Stay
               Resident programs, it's sometimes handy to have a map of
               where these programs are loaded in memory, and be able to
               delete some if you're short of memory;  hopefully this
               same 'sophisticated' user has a copy of track 0, because
               his was just sent to heaven ..... or elsewhere.

DOS-HELP:      Sounds great, doesn't it?  This TSR program is supposed to
               give on-line help on DOS commands.  Your hard disk was
               just formatted.

ULTIMATE.EXE:  This is supposed to be a DOS shell (if you've used
               Directory Scanner or some other software that allows you
               to move around directories and load programs easily, or
               even a menu system, then you know what a DOS shell is). 
               While the "Loading..." message shows on your screen, the
               FAT (file allocation table) of your hard disk went to the
               trash bin.

BARDTALE.ZIP   This purports to be a commercial game from Electronic Arts
               (BARDTALE I)  Someone reverse engineered this program, and
               wrote in a routine to format your hard disk upon
               invocation.











                                 - 21 -

COMPRESS.ARC   This is dated April 1 1987, is executed from a file named
               RUN-ME.BAT, and is advertised as "shareware from Borland"
               (Borland is a highly reputable company).  It will not
               compress your files, but it will very competently destroy
               your FAT table.


DANCERS.BAS    You'll actually see some animated dancers in colour -
               while your FAT is being tromped on.

DEFENDER.ARC   Think you're going to get a copy of Atari's DEFENDER for
               nothing, huh?  There's still no such thing as a free
               lunch, and this one will be particularly expensive:  it
               not only formats your hard disk, but it writes itself to
               your ROM BIOS - the chip that holds the Basic Input Output
               System for your machine.  Get your wallet out.

SIDEWAYS.COM   The good "SIDEWAYS.EXE" is about 30Kb, while this version
               is about 3Kb.  The really big difference, though, is what
               happens to your hard drive - it's spun off into oblivion.


These are only a few of the 70 or so Trojans I have listed at work, but
I'm sure you've got the idea.  These programs (a) stand alone, (b) often
claim to do something useful, (c) may be hacked versions of good
software, (d) may be named the same as good software, (e) may send you
back to using a quill pen.





































                                 - 22 -

7.   PC RULES OF THUMB  (Additional to Basic Rules of Thumb)

Run virus check BEFORE backup

Boot floppy systems from known, protected disks only

Never work with masters - first make copies on a trusted machine

Store data on floppy:
     set path in autoexec.bat, but load from A: to 
     ensure data goes to floppy

Save your data periodically while working

Use write protect tabs

Use write protect software on hard disk / backup track 0

Never boot HD systems from floppies (unless known and
     protected)

New/repaired hard disk? - run a virus detector

Use protection package (practice safe hex)

Avoid shareware / BB demos
     if you use a BB, set path to A: beforehand,
     download only to A:, poweroff immediately after,
     then powerup and do a virus scan on the floppy;
     always scan shareware

Know the source of your software

Don't use illegal copies

If your data is truly confidential, don't depend on
     DELETE - you must use, e.g., Wipefile

Autopark software

Hardcards























                                 - 23 -

6.   A FEW EASY TRICKS FOR PC SECURITY


1.   Set Read only attributes on all files ending with .COM, .EXE, .SYS,
     . OVL,  .BIN,  .BAT

          e.g.:     ATTRIB +R *.SYS



2.   Use an undocumented trick in DOS of naming your data files ending
     with an ASCII blank or NUL character (ASCII 32 or 255): ***

          e.g.:     COPY  A:OLDFILE.TXT  NEWFILECHR$(255).TXT
              or    REN  A:MYFILE.DAT  MYFILECHR$(32).DAT

     ***  Newer versions of DOS will give the ASCII blank or null by
          holding the [Alt] key and striking the numeric keypad numbers;
          e.g.  COPY  A:OLDFILE.TXT  NEWFILE[Alt]255



3.   Prevent inadvertent formatting of the hard disk:

          Rename FORMAT.EXE to (e.g.) DANGER.EXE
          Write a 1-line batch file called FORMAT.BAT:
               DANGER A: %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6


4.   Have a batch program as a shutdown routine, to run:

          1. Virus Check
          2. Copy Track 0
          3. Back up your data files
          4. Park the heads





























                                 - 24 -

9.   SO YOU'RE INFECTED


Terminate all connections with other computers

Record your last activities

Determine the nature and extent of the damage

Notify other users

Contact the source of the carrier software

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 


Back up data files to new diskettes

Erase infected disk (using high or low level format -
     low level is preferred to re-write track 0)

Check master disks with detection program(s)

Restore system files

Restore data files

Run detection program(s) again

Be careful in future - think like a thief!
                       ------------------

































                                 - 25 -

10.  SUMMARY:  WHAT CAN YOU DO?

There are many aspects to computer security, none of which are totally
within your control, but all of which are reasonably within your control. 
One of the major methods of getting control is to establish an
enforceable security policy AND a disaster recovery plan.  However, it's
almost impossible to establish a plan unless you first know what the
risks are.

WHEN YOU GO BACK TO YOUR OFFICE

Try putting some staff into two teams: "hackers" and "police" (or call
them Blue Jays and Cardinals if you find that offensive).  The role of
the hackers is to try to dream up all the things they could get from or
do to the company (or to a department) by breaking computer security. 
The role of the police is to respond with defenses.    Then switch roles.
List all the ideas, no matter how "far out" they seem, then use this for
the basis of risk analysis and disaster recovery planning.  The only rule
to this game is that no idea is initially rejected.

Now that you have some idea of the value of your data and the risks it is
under, you can begin to work on a "Computer Security Policy" and a
"Disaster Recovery Plan."  While many suggestions have been made on the
previous pages, recognize that not all risks/solutions apply to all
organizations:  you have to make some judgement calls based on your
assessment of the risk.  The judgement is based on how much loss you can 
comfortably sustain, yet remain in business.  The level of security
protection you require may not always be the same.  It may vary with the
value of the hardware, software or data under consideration;  the
security level, therefore, might be stated as "minimal," "discretionary,"
"mandatory," or "verified."  The point is, as long as it's been
considered, you're closer to having a good security system than if you
have no policy or a policy that's based on guesswork.

You may find, after working on this for a while, that you may wish to
develop a separate policy for the selection or development, change,
testing and implementation of software.  This might be stated as simply
as, "No system shall be acquired, developed, changed or implemented
without the prior approval of the Systems Steering Group."  This might
also go on to cover documentation; e.g., "Documentation must be complete
for all systems prior to implementation, and must include sections on
files used, access controls, security considerations and controls
(etc.)."

Some further points for consideration are included in the next section.



















                                 - 26 -

11.  COMPUTER SECURITY POLICY:  POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION

Any policy on computer security must be based on the premise that
information is a valuable asset of the company, just like its premises,
equipment, raw materials, inventory and so on.  More than one company has
gone under because they lost their accounts receivable data in a fire,
flood, or from a simple hard disk failure.  The value of your data should
be subjected to a risk analysis, and all identifiable risks assessed.  It
is not until you identify the risks that you can plan for a disaster
recovery.

Your policy might include some of the many things addressed previously in
this paper:  e.g., storing data only on removable media (diskettes or
tapes), limiting access to bulletin boards, establishing password
controls, rules on physical security, use of immunization software, etc. 
There are, however, some other specific points not previously discussed:

RESPONSIBILITY
Recognize that security is a management issue, not a technological
issue, and that setting policy is the responsibility of senior
management.  They must be 'on board' and understand why a security policy
is needed to make it sensible and effective, and they must give overt
support.

Someone should be in charge of computer and network security.  Without
someone in charge, important security tasks may not get done.  The duties
of the security manager would include responsibility for limiting access
to the network, securing the information that passes over it, overseeing
password systems, and installing security packages that protect computers
from illegal tampering once a user is on the network.  Other duties might
include analyzing the network for security weaknesses and helping users
understand the security strengths and weaknesses of the network.

The amount of time required of the system security specialist may depend
on the size of the organization, and on the number and complexity of the
systems in use or planned.

Having one person in charge is probably the ideal security arrangement.
The security specialist can become aware of all of the issues affecting
computer/network security, can schedule and establish priority for
actions, and can ensure that the actions are taken.

This position in the organization requires some authority and autonomy. 
For instance, security is compromised if the boss shares his/her
password.  The  security specialist needs to be able to change the boss's
password if this happens, and gently but firmly discuss the problems
which could result. 


In many organizations, putting two or more people in charge of something
diffuses responsibility.  Each can think that some security concern was
the responsibility of the other.  If two individuals are charged with
network security, be certain that they work well together, communicate











                                 - 27 -

well, and will each put in their fair share of the analysis and work that
is required for security.

In some organizations, a "communications manager" is responsible for
limiting access to the network (with dialback modems and encryption
devices), while the network manager maintains password systems and
installs security software. 

If someone is in charge of network security and you don't know about it,
then they haven't been very  obvious about it.  They need not be.  But if
it is evident to you that security is lacking, then perhaps the issue of
responsibility should be examined (or re-examined).


BACKUPS
Those who are most zealous about backups are those who've been affected
in the past by a loss of data.  If backups are performed every day, your
computer or network is probably in good shape when the hard disk or file
server goes to heaven.  You will want to verify that this is the case,
since most organizations (and individuals) put this off... and off...
until it's too late.

Backing a system up once a week is not enough, unless the system is
rarely used.  If your last backup was a week ago, and your hard disk or
the hard disk in the file server crashes, all users of the network have
lost one week's work.

This cost is enormous.  If you have 10 users who have lost 30 hours of
work each, if each user is paid $20/hour, and overhead is 100%, then you
have just lost 10 x 30 x 20 x 2 = $12,000.  If you assume that backup
takes one $20 hour with a tape drive, you could back the system up 600
times for $12,000. That's nearly three years, if backups are done five
times a week.  Many hard disks will not run continuously for three years. 
Even if you're a 'stand alone' computer user, your time is valuable.  You
might consider a policy that, if recovery covers a period of more than
'x' days, it must be done on the employee's own time, and all deadlines
must be met - tough, but it get's the point across!

Irregular backups are a sign that backup is not taken as seriously as it
should be.  It is probably wisest to do the arithmetic, comparing the
costs of backup with the costs of losing work for multiple users.  The
cost comparison in the commentary on the second answer doesn't even
consider the possibility of losing irreplaceable files, such as those
containing new accounts receivable entries or new prospects.

Since file backup is a "private" activity, not knowing how often it
occurs  does not mean that it does not occur.  But if you have a security
concern,  you should find out what the correct answer is.  After all, if
you use the network, and it is not backed up frequently, it is your work
that is lost when the hard disk in the server crashes.














                                 - 28 -

BEWARE:  backing up is NOT enough!  You MUST periodically run your
recovery procedure .... how else will you know it will work when you need
it most?


PURCHASING
The policy should state the controls in place for purchase of both
hardware and software, and it should be consistent and centralized. 
Unless you've seen what some software can do to destroy security, or how
difficult it is to interconnect different equipment, this might seem to
destroy some autonomous activities in your organization.  Autonomy be
darned, it's the company that's paying the bill.


MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS
All warranty registrations must be mailed to the manufacturer, and
records kept of purchase dates, expiry dates and repairs made under the
warranty.  Keeping accurate records has substantiated the complete
replacement of more than one machine.


SOFTWARE LOADING
The checking, copying and loading of software should be the
responsibility of one person or department.  The 'penalty' for loading
illegal/unauthorized software can range from a note in the personnel file
to dismissal, depending on the organization.  The opposite, copying the
organization's software for loading in another location, should also be
covered in the policy, because the company (as the registered owner)
could be party to a lawsuit without the ability to plead ignorance.





EMPLOYMENT TERMINATION
In several organizations, when a person submits their resignation, their
access to the computer system is immediately withdrawn.  This, of course,
requires a close liaison with the personnel department in large
organizations.  Many of these companies feel it's worth the salary cost
to have the person leave the premises immediately (escorted), and simply
pay out their notice period.  If your company adopts such a policy, it
should be made very clear that it is not an indication of trust in the
person, but simply a means to reduce risk to the valuable resources of
hardware, software and data.  It must be administered consistently and
equitably to avoid problems.    There are problems with such a policy,
not the least of which could be someone who gives a very lengthy notice
period simply because they're aware of the policy - but you could
transfer them to a clerical job for the interim (like the mail room) or
to maintenance staff (washroom detail).

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                                    - 29 -

12.  TO RUN SCAN (Virus detection software included on this diskette)

SCAN looks for 42 viruses in software files, but not in data files.  I
know it works on Jerusalem-B because I used SCAN to detect that virus on
a machine at work.  This is NOT the latest version of SCAN, but then
again, you're not likely to have the latest viruses (I hope).

If you want to print the documentation, type:  COPY A:SCAN.DOC PRN
If you want to run SCAN, just type:     A:SCAN [drive identifier]
                                 e.g.,  A:SCAN C:


An article from the Washington Post, January 14, 1990, on Computer
Viruses was added to the diskette after this paper was written.

          To read this article, key  TYPE A:ARTICLE|MORE      
          To print the article, key  COPY A:ARTICLE PRN


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If you have found this presentation useful, either by attending or by
reading or using the information on this diskette, then I am rewarded. 
If you found it useful, please feel free to copy this diskette or its
contents and share it with others - I would ask that you don't change
anything, though.  (It was virus free at the time I made the original
diskette - but if you trust that statement, you might just have made your
first mistake.)  

If you'd like to make suggestions that would improve the information on
this diskette, I would be very happy to hear from you.  I'd also like to
hear from you if you wish to discuss security issues, get a virus
infection or hit by a Trojan Horse, or even just to comment on the
contents of this paper.  My address and phone number are on the first
page of this document.

If you would like to join the National Computer Security Association, a
'form' for application is on the next page.  They provide benefits such
as a Virus Self-Defense Kit that's more sophisticated than the software
on this diskette, newsletters, a virus-free bulletin board with hundreds
of security-related programs, discounts on software, books and
conferences, and advice if you run into trouble.

Happy (and safe) computing!


                         E. A. (Liz) Bedwell



















National Computer Association
Suite 309
4401-A Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC
USA   20008              Phone:    (202) 364-8252




[ ]  I wish to join NCSA.  Cheque enclosed for $45.00 (US funds)

[ ]  I wish to join NCSA.  Please bill me for $45.00 (US funds)


Name:          _____________________________________________________

Organization:  _____________________________________________________

Address:       _____________________________________________________

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City, Prov.:   ____________________________ Postal Code ____________

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Title or Position, or interest in computer security:

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