"Mike Coslo" wrote:

Thanks for the accusation, Dwight, but
no, I don't. BTW, the computer doesn't
get infected, but Norton's isolates the
file, and I have to manually delete it.


It wasn't an accusation, Mike. I was simply pointing out that some
activities more risky than others (and gave an example). If you're not
comfortable with that example, we could use email as another (for example,
no matter how many times you warn people not to, some just can't seem to
resist opening those questionable files).


Yup, that's why places have entire staffs
of PC jockeys that work full time to beat
the things into submission. We who own
Macs, at least where I work, have to
maintain their own computers. And at least
where I work, all the Mac users are artists,
not computer jocks (with the exception of
me)


There is an entire staff because there are a lot of computers, not a
single computer you're maintaining yourself. We have a number of Macs at the
local college and I see many of the same types of problems - missing or
damaged drivers, questionable software installed, tampering with things that
should be left alone, and so on. Some are downright silly. For example,
there isn't a week that goes by that we don't see a computer problem traced
to someone dragging things out of the System folder.


(snip) Sometimes I think PCphiles would
insist on only one type of car for the entire
world with that mindset.


You're assuming I'm a "PCphile." I purchased my first Apple in 1981 and
first Mac in 1986. Even though I used other computers, the Mac was my main
focus for many years. I recently switched focus to Windows, but still own
two PowerBooks to allow me to keep up with events in that platform. The
college is slowly getting rid of the Macs, but a number of teachers still
use them (including my wife).


Glad I go an IT pro here, as I have been
wondering something for a while. Isn't it
possible to find these infected devils and
isolate them somehow? Might be a naive
question, but I'm not an IT person, just a
program jock.


Since they're very unpredictable, it's not really that easy on an active
computer. Most large IT departments have computers sat aside to solely watch
how these things work and what exactly they do. That information is then
used to develop tactics to deal with threats to other computers. The
information is also widely shared, and can usually be found on the internet
very shortly after a new threat is discovered. Indeed, by the time we see
the results of a new virus or whatever, information about it is usually
already available.

Dwight Stewart