Re: yesterday's virus attack on the list

[yesss@xxxxxxxx]

	I didn't get this message, so I doubt it
	went to the xywrite list. 		--Ed Cray

Yeah, Ed, as others surely have pointed out by now,
the virus *was* distributed via xylist, as anyone who
subscribes to the digest can attest. Maybe your system
administrator has trained your server to recognize and
filter it as apparently ccat.sas.upenn.edu doesn't?

Two relevant things I've read in the past couple of days:
A New Yorker Talk of the Town item by Steven Johnson
http://www.newyorker.com/THE_TALK_OF_THE_TOWN/CONTENT/?talk_mystery_mail
explains some secondary details, and computer
industry historian Robert Cringely
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20010802.html,
operating out of the PBS site since the fab
"Revenge of the Nerds" miniseries, points out:

"The wonder of all these Internet security problems is
that they are continually labeled as `e-mail viruses' or
`Internet worms,' rather than the more correct designation
of `Windows viruses' or `Microsoft Outlook viruses.' It
is to the credit of the Microsoft public relations team
that Redmond has somehow escaped blame, because nearly
all the data security problems of recent years have been
Windows-specific, taking advantage of the glaring security
loopholes that exist in these Microsoft products. If it
were not for Microsoft's carefully worded user license
agreement, which holds the company blameless for absolutely
anything, they would probably have been awash in class
action lawsuits by now."

As long as people insist on using Outlook, I guess the
rest of us will just have to stay alert. ... Ciao. 	--a

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