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TOTAL IMMUNITY TO COMPUTERS FROM
VIRUS
0.0 Synopsis
Nuisance
created by a virus is of great concern to every class of people genuinely
involved in the computer world. The vaccine programs are also found ineffective
as every time new viruses crop in.
Observance
of certain standards by all the concerned (i.e. those dealing with hardware,
software and the users), according to the author, could possibly provide total
immunity against any virus. The paper dealing with the standards envisaged
based on the concept of WRITE PROTECTION.
1.0 Introduction
The
programs written by the virus-writers can sustain considerable damage to our
software and data, can cause malfunctioning or slow the computer. Therefore,
the virus-writers work against the mankind. It has been reported that nearly 16
% of data loss is attributed to virus. The program corrupted by virus then can
be reinstalled from originals (floppies, CDs) or backups. In the absence of
proper backup however the data corrupted by virus have to be actually re-entered.
It
is also reported that daily nearly 100 new viruses are produced to attack our
computers. A vaccine-provider carefully analyzes the behaviour of every new
virus, which takes its own time to develop suitable vaccine software.
Therefore, the virus-writers can always beat the vaccine-providers. It means
that at present, total immunity from viruses cannot be achieved at any given
time.
The
user has to incur regular expenditure on antivirus vaccines from time to time
for his computer, whereas the virus- writers and vaccine-providers are minting
money for their unproductive work and no fruitful contribution to the mankind
is served. The innocent user is thus trapped between the virus-writers and the
vaccine-providers.
2.0 Present
scenario
2.1 At present two weapons are available to the user for
combating the viruses. Details are given below.
2.1.1 Spot-checking :-
In
this approach the user is required to periodically run the available
antivirus software to check the presence of any virus in the system, to kill
the same when found. Thereafter the antivirus software tries to repair all the
infected program-files. Due to unknown behaviour of every new virus, a complete
repair to the infected files is always not guaranteed. Sometimes, antivirus
software may totally fail to repair infected files, because virus may overwrite
the stored data by some misleading one.
2.1.2 Continuous monitoring :-
In
this approach, an antivirus program is always loaded in the memory of the
computer. This program continuously monitors the operations of the computer. If
any operation is suspected to be affected by any virus, then the processing is
interrupted and the user is alerted. This process of continuous monitoring the
operations of computer, however, results in slowing the speed of computer,
apart from its inability to remove the virus.
3.0 Necessity of setting standard :-
None
of the above mentioned tools is found as an antidote and therefore calls for
need to develop some new technique which may provide the user 100% security
against any virus. To come out of the clutches of the virus-writers and the
vaccine-providers, I have to suggest a new technique in the form of specific
standards to be strictly adhered to by all the concerned -- the hard disk
manufacturer, the software manufacturer, the BIOS manufacturer and the user. I
have named this technique as "WOV" standard – “War On
Virus” standard. The WOV standards for each of the elements -- the user, the
manufacturers of the hard disk drive, software and BIOS software, involved is
explained in the following paragraphs.
3.1 "WOV"
standard for Hard Disk Drive
(HDD) manufacturer
HDD
manufacturer shall provide some facilities through hardware to 'write protect'
the HDD, so that nothing can be modified or erased by software. In short, the
HDD will work like ROM chip. The protection could be in the form of shorting
the hardware pin with ground or Vcc by means of a
key-switch (to be known as WOV key) provided on the front panel of the
computer. The key switch could be connected on the rear side of the HDD say
near the jumper setting arrangement. The key-switch for the purpose should be
foolproof -- its key can be taken out from the switch only in WRITE DISABLE
(WD) mode, but cannot be taken out if the switch is in WRITE ENABLE (WE) mode.
Once
the user selects WRITE DISABLE mode, any virus program or the user himself
cannot overwrite on the HDD. Thus like ROM, no program including virus one or
the one run by the user himself cannot alter the HDD, unless the user changes
to WRITE ENABLE mode.
For HDDs having many partitions, each partition could be
selected in WRITE DISABLE mode. Since the first partition contains Operating
System, it should necessarily be in write-protected mode, while other
partitions could be by choice either in WRITE ENABLE (WE) or WRITE DISABLE (WD)
mode, e.g. for my HDD having four partitions (i.e. 'C', ' D', 'E', and 'F'
drives), I shall be able to select WRITE ENABLE mode or WRITE DISABLE mode for
any drives (logical) as per following procedure.
1.
Put the WOV key in
WE mode
2.
Put the entire
HDD in WRITE ENABLE mode by key-switch.
3.
By software,
select either WD mode, or WE as required, for each logical drives ‘C’, ‘D’,
‘E’, ‘F’ and etc..
4.
Save the
configuration thus created, in 'C' drive for protecting drives having WD mode.
5.
Put the WOV key
in WD mode.
6.
Check for
presence of any virus, using virus-scanning software.
7.
For changing the
mode of any logical drive, follow the same procedure as above.
3.2 WOV Standard
for the software manufacturers :-
The
manufacturer shall design each software such that all
its executable files shall be installed in protected WRITE DISABLE drive, like
'C' drive and all its temporary files and data files shall be placed in WRITE
ENABLE drives.
For
example in "Window 95" package., all the executable files like EXE,
DLL, COM, VXD and DRV shall be placed in 'C' drive and the temporary files like
INI, GRP and SWAP files shall be placed in 'D' drive or any other WRITE ENABLE
drive.
3.3 WOV standard
for the users :-
The
user shall confirm that the media of the software shall be write protected and
its installation throughout, shall necessarily be in write-protected mode. Any
software media requiring WE mode for its installation should therefore be
rejected. Moreover every software shall be thoroughly checked for virus (and if
found, be removed) both before and after installation.
Once
all the required software are thus installed with due care, the user shall once
again ensure the entire system virus free and then turn the key switch to make
the HDD in WRITE DISABLE mode. Now, as the key is in safe custody of the user.
One is worry free from any virus whatsoever, even if other person is using
one’s computer? The key could be used only when the user wants to add or remove
any software by strictly adhering to above procedure.
3.4 WOV standard
for the BIOS providers :
Every BIOS manufacturer
shall design his BIOS software with following facilities -
1.
To transfer the
CMOS settings, the Boot program and the partition table to the FLASH RAM so
that virus may not be able to alter these items.
2.
to assign READ ONLY (RO) attribute to any subdirectory.
Once any subdirectory is assigned RO attribute, then all its child
subdirectories and its’ all files shell be automatically assigned RO attribute,
which means better security will be provided to the data stored.
4.0 Expected
results on acceptance of WOV standards. :-
As
on today very few software are compatible to the WOV standard. As such, the
capacity assigned by the user to logical 'C' drive will be small. All other
software being not compatible to WOV standard will be installed in logical 'D'
drive having very large capacity to accommodate temporary files also. All the
data files shall be placed in 'E' drive. As the user has to check virus in
WRITE ENABLE logical drives only, the time for scanning the software will be
saved. Obviously, the software in WRITE DISABLE drive needs no more checking
for virus.
With
the passage of time, as the WOV standard gets widely accepted, the availability
of software with WOV standard will increase. The software manufacturers will
also modify their existing software to make them compatible to the WOV
standard. Once all the available softwares are WOV
standard compatible, those could be installed in WRITE DISABLE drive. Under
these conditions, the user no more needs any antivirus vaccine for his
computer.
I
look forward for such a change -- virus free computer world that we all long
for -- to happen. I have offered my loud thinking to generate interactions in
this regard. Obviously its reality solely depends upon the cooperation from all
the concerned -- the users, manufacturers of HDD, BIOS and software. The
manufacturer of software/hardware closer to WOV standard are requested to send
the details of their products for inclusion in the proposed directory intended
for the users. Please redistribute this document without modifying the same, to
provide wide publicity. Any suggestions and your views in this regard are earnestly
solicited at below mentioned address.
Anil V. Chaudhary,
A-302, White House,
Kalwa (west), Thane,
Pin
:- 400 605,
Tel
:- 091-022-25382402.
E-mail
:- anilvc31@gmail.com
First released on
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