DD>> I don't have a directory called c:\cookies...

BL> Gee... that'll trick 'em. That almost as safe as Niel renaming
BL> format.exe.

DD> It renders "shell c:\cookies....." inoperative.

 Windows obviously knows where it is, so program the worm to ask
Windows and it'll confess. In other words, read it out of the
registry. 

 When I was running Win311, it had a REGISTRY of sorts, and as soon
as I found it, I erased it! The absolute *last* thing I want on my
computer is a centralised source of all information. It worries me
about Linux, too...

DD> Luck I suppose.... I have worked for this employer for over 15
DD> years. I have not had a virus on my workstation in that time. 

 That's not the same thing as a PC. It only means the bloke running
your server is good. The basic difference in the philosophy of Windows
and Linux, is that Linux is for techies with lots of config files, and
Windows is for the braindead who let Microsoft do it automatically. It
should be obvious which is the correct approach (M$), but sadly the
world is full of pathetic fuckwit programmers who like nothing better
than to show how "clever" they are.

 To me, the correct approach to hackers is to call them terrorists
and put them away for 50 years. I hope this pathetic German prick with
his Sasser gets the gasser right up his asser in a hard-times prison.

DD> But how will you get me to install _your_ virus checker?

 How do con men get dorks to invest in off-the-plan apartment blocks
in Queensland? Beats me... but it happens all the time. PT Barnum had
a philosophy that explains it: there's one born every minute.

DD> I trust Symantec not to embed viruses in their data files.

 What if it's not actually Symantec?

DD> Some virii are quite happy to spread via network connection
DD> (wireless or wired). They actively seek out networked drives. 

 I know. What I like about networking is that it is so easy to pull
the plug.

BL> I see a permanent Internet connection as the DEVIL!

DD> Firewall Bob - and be careful what you download and/or attempt
DD> to execute. 

 Why do you trust firewalls? It is *not* a fire wall; that's just a
spinmeister name to make it sound good. A fire wall withstands fire by
sacrificing itself a little at a time, and then it fails. A computer
firewall is just another program given access to the O/S.

DD> Just as driving on the public street can be a risky business,
DD> one can take measures to minimise destruction when out there
DD> zooming around. 

 On the street, the only program taking precautions is you, and the
accident-rate shows how many can't do that right. On a PC, we rely on
the PC itself to take the precautions. It's the same as the USA
telling Russia *exactly* how they have protected themselves, and then
hoping that no one on planet Earrth will be clever enough to find the
flaws in the protection.

 Are you kidding?

Regards,
Bob

--- BQWK Alpha 0.5