quote:argghhh, some people shouldnt even be alowed to use computers. ... anti-virus checker will not detect a new virus, why should it? IT IS NEW!!! They can only detect the signitures of known viri!!
You're right, some people shouldn't be allowed to use computers. And if understanding how an anti-virus program works is a prerequisite for computer use, then you shouldn't be allowed to use one either.
Modern Antivirus programs detect new viruses they haven't seen on a regular basis. The technique is called "heuristic analysis", and involves looking at what they do, not how they do it. For example, if it's hooking keyboard input, opening a port, and modifying explorer.exe, it's probably a virus. If it's a Word document with a macro designed to self-replicate in any way, it's probably a virus. Norton has been doing this for years.
quote:As most email providors now block all executible files people have started zipping their viruses to get around this block but that doesnt mean every .zip is a virus.
Most antivirus programs used by ISPs will automatically unzip the file and scan the contents. The reason for zipping is actually to get around Microsoft Outlook, which doesn't by default allow .exe files. It's not to avoid the antivirus programs.
The exception to the above is the viruses that encrypt a zip file with a password, than include the password in the email. That makes it difficult for antivirus programs on the email server to scan, but only a couple of viruses have used that technique.
quote:Lesson over..
There are so many sources of blatantly wrong information out there. Try not to be one yourself.