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The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) is committed to providing swift, global responses to computer virus threats, proactively researching and developing technologies that eliminate such threats and educating the public on safe computing practices.
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Current AntiVirus Products
The Symantec AntiVirus solution includes the following
line-up of currently available products:
- DOS/Windows 3.1—NAV 3.0, revision 3.10
- Windows 95—NAV 95 1.0, revision 95.0b
- Windows 95—NAV 95 2.0, revision 2.01
- Windows NT—NAV NT 2.0, revision 2.00
- Novell—NAV 2.0 NetWare, revision 2.03
- Netscape—NAV Internet, revision 1.00
- Macintosh/Power Macintosh—SAM, revision 4.0.8
- Macintosh/Power Macintosh—SAM, revision 4.50
- CompuServe:
GO SYMANTEC - Microsoft Network (Windows 95 products only):
GoTo: SYMANTEC - America Online:
Keyword: SYMANTEC - Symantec World Wide Web site:
http://www.symantec.com - Symantec FTP or BBS (28.8 baud):
(541) 484-6669 and (541) 984-5366
If you don’t have electronic access, you can contact our Customer Service at (800) 441-7234 and order a disk set for $12 (to cover shipping and handling only).
March Virus Update Available Now!
In addition to protecting you from the latest macro, file,
and boot sector viruses, the March 1997 virus definition
set supports Word and Excel for Microsoft Office 97. Just
run 03NAV97.EXE or click your LiveUpdate button to obtain
this support.
NAV News
Macro Viruses On the Rise
The macro virus population is growing at an unprecedented rate. From its first distribution, WM.Concept has become the most prolific virus in history, accounting for 41% of all virus reports in 1995 and early 1996 (NCSA, April 1996). Unfortunately, the growth of macro viruses has showed no signs of slowing.Below is a graph of macro virus growth around the world, from July 1995 (0) to January 31, 1997 (259).
Symantec Announces Macro Virus Protection for Corporate Environments
The new Macro Virus Protection (MVP) system will be available to Symantec’s corporate customers by May 1, 1997. Initially, the system will support Norton AntiVirus 2.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT, with other platform support planned for future releases."Our new Macro Virus Protection system is a combination of our forward thinking technology and re-implementation of our existing systems. We are providing a solution that will prevent macro viruses from loading with 100% confidence," said Enrique Salem, Vice President of Symantec’s Securities and Assistance Business Unit. "We can stop the loading of any unapproved macros into the system. If macro viruses are unable to load, they are also unable to spread. Our thinking is, why invite the monster in when you can stop it at the door?"
"We are extremely excited about this technology," commented Dr. Charles Popper, Vice President of Corporate Computer Resources and CIO of Merck and Co., Inc. "Symantec has been very responsive to our corporate enterprise needs. They listened, and this Macro Virus Protection system is the result. We can’t wait to roll it out to our user base."
According to SARC, six to nine new computer viruses are discovered every day, and an alarming number of those are macro viruses. Researchers have documented 259 macro viruses as of February 1997, a significant increase since August 1996, when there were only 42. Seven macro viruses have been found in Microsoft Excel and 252 in Word.
Norton AntiVirus products give you the security of knowing that you have the most complete virus protection available, whether you’re downloading files from the Internet, opening Word documents attached to e-mail, or accessing floppy disks.
How Macro Virus Protection (MVP) Works
MVP checks each document for macro viruses as it is loaded. Any macros in the document are checked against a list pre-approved by the MIS department, and if the macros do not appear on the list, access is denied. The approved list is a data file created and maintained by the corporate MIS department and stored in the workstation’s Norton AntiVirus directory.
In The Wild
In each issue of the SARC AntiVirus News Update, we
profile a few viruses known to be in free distribution
among the general public ("in the wild"). You can access
the complete Joe Wells Wild List on the SARC Web site at:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/wild/wl.html
SARC Technology Update
New SARC Virus Information Search Engine
Are you looking for information on a particular virus or family? Are the general purpose web search engines feeding you hundreds of pages of unrelated information?SARC now has a dedicated online search engine for your virus queries. From the SARC home page or from the SARC Virus Information Database page, you can enter in the name, alias, or property of a virus and get immediate, specific results.
Stop by and check it out!
- http://www.symantec.com/avcenter
or
- http://www.sarc.com
Macro Virus Protection Additions
Protection for the following macro viruses have been added to the March virus definition update:
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| Editor: Alex Haddox, Product Manager, Symantec
AntiVirus Research Center
Address all correspondence to:
SARC AntiVirus News Update is published monthly by Symantec Corporation. Copyright © 1997 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. No Reprint without Permission in writing, in advance. Archives of these newsletters are available for
reading on the SARC WWW site at: |