 Number 194 - July 1999 |
| InDefense | |
| by Mike Yoshikawa, LACS, bi597@lafn.org via March 1999 User Friendly, LACS | |
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TOGGLE Ed Note:
In the January 1999 issue of the TOGGLE we carried an article about InDefense, an alternative type of Anti-Virus software which evaluates the files on your "clean" system, creates a profile of those files and then subsequently re-evaluates them, and any new software, with respect to the actions they perform and products of those actions. It does not use a database of "virus signatures" in the way other Anti-Virus programs do, hence does not need to update those signature profiles periodically to include new viruses. Here is a "real world" evaluation of InDefense by another user, which perhaps should be viewed in the context of the previous article. See the January 1999 TOGGLE, Page 1. I have been interested in computer viruses since 1988. I worked as a temp for a small software company in Santa Monica and I recall that the topic of computer viruses came up occasionally. I remember the owner remarking that he doubted the existence of such programs, that it was more fiction than fact. The guy must have changed his mind, for a scant three years later, his name (Peter Norton) graced the most popular anti-virus program (Norton Anti Virus). The topic at my first computer society meeting was anti-virus software. Four competitors met on stage in what was billed a showdown. One company, Fifth Generation Systems, claimed to have a product, Untouchable, that was mathematically impossible to beat. They claimed that through the use of a unique technology, Untouchable could stop any virus, known or unknown, from infecting a computer regardless of whether a computer user updated Untouchable's signature files. I was impressed enough to purchase Untouchable. It did its job for several years until a faulty hard drive corrupted its files and larger hard drives along with Windows 95 forced its retirement. Incidentally, Symantec must have been quite impressed with several of the companies present at the showdown. It soon acquired Fifth Generation Systems and Central Point Software in addition to Peter Norton Computing. Now, six years later, Tegam International makes claims for InDefense similar to Untouchable's. The company says that its InDefense Dynamic Defense Technology eliminates known and unknown viruses without requiring any virus signature updates, thus making it much more effective, easier to use and cheaper than virus-scanning software. The InDefense presenter at our November meeting also said that it was compatible with other anti-virus software, including Norton AntiVirus. I decided to review InDefense because I suspected that I might have a virus on my system. I had a Windows 95 system with 32 MB of RAM and Norton System Works installed. I had been asked to scan a disk with a possible virus. Norton AntiVirus, using a five-month-old signature file, did not find anything. While InDefense works best when installed on a virus-free system, I figured that since the suspected virus had not yet attacked my computer InDefense might be able to prevent an attack. Installation Installation is straightforward. As usual, the installer instructed me to shut down any other program that was running at the time - I also temporarily disabled the Norton AntiVirus Auto*Protect TSR. The program told me to create a rescue disk, which I did even though I suspected I might have a virus. The program then |
scanned and secured my documents and other
work files. It found a few Quattro Pro files with what it thought were
automatic macros and gave me the option to remove them. As I still need
them, I chose not to delete them. The installer then began vaccinating
the executable files and finished creating the rescue disk. Upon
completion, I rebooted the computer.
Operation Outside of a lady's voice saying, "Your computer is protected from viruses," I did not notice any differences in my computer. I did get a warning about macro activating but beyond that, my first day was uneventful. A week later I ran into problems. It seemed that InDefense was not compatible with my July 1998 version of SystemWorks. I had conflicts with Norton AntiVirus and Norton CrashGuard. The crashes finally corrupted my files to the extent that the computer froze while starting up. I started the computer in safe mode and temporarily removed InDefense. Although my computer could now boot without freezing, it still crashed frequently. Upgrading from Windows 95 to Windows 98 solved most of the crashes, and updating the Utilities portion of Norton SystemWorks seemed to help further. I reinstalled InDefense. When I attempted to restart the computer, it froze once more. I rebooted and asked for step-by-step confirmation and found that the computer froze when loading a file called Dblbuff.sys. Removing this file fixed the problem. So far, it appears that InDefense is compatible with both Windows 98 and Norton SystemWorks. I do not notice any performance problems. Summary These problems, while slightly frustrating, are not serious enough to justify a thumbs down on buying InDefense. They were definitely solvable. I am still trying to find out if that virus, AntiExe-C, is on my system. On the other computer, it attacked fairly early, but I have not yet found any trace of it. Documentation InDefense comes with a clearly written manual that gives a beginner information on what a virus is and how InDefense prevents infections. It skimps on troubleshooting but I presume that they expect you to call their free tech support at a toll-free number. Even so, I only had a few questions. For example, the registration form says that free version upgrades are available via the Internet. For how long is that true? What exactly do they consider a version upgrade? System Requirements InDefense requires at least a 386 computer with 8 MB of RAM and 6 MB of hard drive space. The version I tested works under DOS (not clear as to what versions), Windows 3.x, Windows 95, 98, and NT. It also requires a 3.5 inch floppy drive and a CD ROM drive. InDefense, Tegam International, 303 Potrero Street, #42-204, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-2780. Telephone: (831) 471-1413, Fax (831) 420-1313. Tech support: (877) 472-3372 or www.indefense.com or support@indefense.com. MSRP: $50 |
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Number 194 - July 1999 |
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