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Addendum: June 2002 Windows XP Comparative Review
F-Prot users relying on the on-access protection against W32/Nimda.A are safe
In the June 2002 comparative review of anti-virus products for Windows XP (see VB, June 2002, p.19), we stated that W32/Nimda.A samples were missed by F-Prot 3.12 'due to extension issues In the Wild on access.' The files in question were the EML files dropped by Nimda. VB's documented testing procedure involves the opening/closing of tested files and, for practical reasons, does not include the execution of any malicious code. In the vast majority of cases such methods are sufficient to trigger a reaction from tested products. However, it has been drawn to our attention that the on-access protection implemented in F-Prot purposely ignores the opening of an EML file as a non-threat event (treating such a file as a container) - yet, if an infected EML message is accessed in the real world (an attempt made to execute its contents), the product will detect and block the execution of the malicious code. We have tested the claim and are happy to report that, although the product did not detect Nimda's EML files, F-Prot users relying on the on-access protection against W32/Nimda.A are safe
24 October 2002
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VB100 certification
The final VB100 of the year sees a double whammy of potential
pitfalls for our comparative participants - the
Vista operating system, which still seems shiny
and new as well as a little scary (to both developers and users), as well
as the x64 architecture, whose ostensible compatibility with standard
32-bit software belies oddities and intricacies that developers ignore at
their peril. The announcement of the test brought a few surprises, as
several regulars opted to skip this one, but the majority of veteran
competitors took part as usual, along with several newer faces, many of
whom look set to join the ranks of our regulars.
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