Antivirus software

Home Office Computing, July, 1998 by Philip Albinus

Before you insert that floppy disk into your PC, double-click to open that e-mail attachment from a stranger, or download that software from the funky new Web site you've discovered, stop and ask yourself: Could I be inviting a virus to invade and infect my computer?

This may sound paranoid, but the threat of encountering a computer-crippling virus is very real these days. The International Computer Security Association (the organization that monitors computer viral activity) estimates that more than 20,000 known computer virus strains were in circulation at press time. If that weren't enough, the ICSA estimates that an estimated 10 to 20 new viruses are discovered each day in the wild.

In the past, viruses were passed along via "sneaker-net" or from one floppy disk to another. But with the double threat of e-mail and the Internet, they are circulating faster than a politician at a fund-raising dinner. Nearly any program file or document can contain a hidden virus designed to ruin your workday and destroy your data. And not only can you lose valuable time trying to cure your stricken system, you can also unwittingly pass a bug on to your employees, coworkers, and clients.

The Hot Zone

Do software viruses sound scary? Thankfully, there's plenty of software to protect your computer and cure infected files. Antivirus programs, with budget-friendly prices ranging from $30 to $70, offer the first line of defense against viruses created by malicious hackers that use their knowledge to harm your computer. Fortunately, today's antivirus software is as smart as the ne'er-do-wells who create the germs in the first place. And you won't have to worry about your software growing outdated: All the packages in this Buyer's Guide offer frequent updates for new variants of computer viruses, such as the latest Microsoft Word and Excel macro viruses.

In this roundup, we tested a sample of the antivirus programs you can find at your local software store. In order to qualify for the review, the applications had to provide up-to-the-minute electronic updates and comprehensive technical support, along with intelligent virus detection. We put on our germ-free biosuits and took a close look at Touchstone's PC-cillin Anti-Virus 3.0, Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Deluxe, Network Associates (formerly McAfee) Virus Scan 3.1, Quarterdeck ViruSweep Extra Strength, and Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 4.0 for Windows. Because Symantec's AntiVirus for Mac (SAM) is virtually identical to the Windows version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0, we reviewed the Windows version.

For our tests, we searched online for a few offensive viruses and, in a perfect illustration of how effectively the Web can distribute these destructive files, we caught three samples in a matter of minutes: a pair of macro viruses that ruin Microsoft Word files and a particularly nasty Trojan Horse virus that grabs your AOL password and sends it off to an unknown address. With this trio of troublemakers on a floppy disk (we marked it with a skull and crossbones to keep our coworkers from borrowing it), we intentionally infected our test system, a 200MHz Pentium AST PC with 32MB of RAM. Of all the Buyer's Guides we've written this one frankly scared us: Installing a disk with three powerful viruses is like testing your car's air bag by driving into a telephone pole.

That said, we loaded the viruses directly onto our hard disk (the C drive) and into a folder we created on the Win 95 desktop. This first test was born from personal experience: Last year, a HOME OFFICE COMPUTING editor's PC was infected with a Word macro virus, but her antivirus package didn't detect the folder containing the infected Word document. Although the program scanned the entire hard disk, it failed to check the Windows 95 desktop. With that in mind, we wondered if the new virus-fighting programs were clever enough to scan the desktop as well as the contents of the hard disk. And finally, we took a close look at each package's technical manuals and instructions for removing a virus from our PC.

Now, let's see how these five virus-fighters performed on our tests.

Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Deluxe

*** 1/2 DOS/WIN/WIN 95

When you have the flu, don't hesitate to call your doctor. But when your PC is stricken with a virus, you should consult with Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Deluxe. This specialist has the knowledge and the tools to cure what ails your PC.

For this review, we tested a Solomon's Anti-Virus Deluxe, and the shipping version should be available by the time you read this. The installation was smooth, although we had to delete our previously loaded version of Dr. Solomon's. We would've preferred the new version to overwrite the older version. Once installation was complete, Dr. Solomon's dialed into its Web site to download updates to the software's virus library. After the download, the program scanned our PC for viruses. The only issue we had with Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus was its somewhat complex method of scheduling updates for virus lists. Sorry, Doc, but points off for that.