Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

Has anyone see the new software from McAfee re: Virus software for the Palm OS?
http://www.mcafee.com/wireless/

I am curious if anyone has tried this yet.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Bath, Avon, UK
Posts: 56

I had a look at it on their site, but unlike just about every other vendor of virus protection on (most) other platforms there was no free trial.
Now call me cynical, but to pay $50 (or so) for a virus killer for PalmOS when there have been no reported viri (viruses ? ) seems a bit silly.
I seem to remember reading something recently that pointed out that viri on PalmOS would not really be a very good idea anyway, as people don't really beam programs from one unit to the other often enough for a virus to spread fast enough to propogate efficiently.

Personally, I think McAfee are just after a quick buck.

agoldfish

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

I saw a demo at PC Expo. It's an interesting question, because while no virus for the Palm OS has been announced as yet, it's certainly possible this will happen, and it will spread reasonably quickly -- I hear about people beaming executables to strangers a lot, so it's just a matter of time.

$50 a year is a fair chunk of change, but putting an infrastructure in place ahead of time would let people who have it already download the updated virus scanner and resolve the problem quicker than people who try to buy it when the first virus or trojan hits. You know when and if it does there's going to be a lot of people trying to dial in.

Personally, I'm undecided. There's no known Palm virus, but I've got renter's insurance, and I've never had a fire or robbery either.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

how can McAfee build a virus scanner if there are no Viri out there??
What will it detect?? It cannot use signatures since there are no PalmOS viri...
It could only detect viruslike behaviour, but that would mean it would need to run in the background... I'm not sure if PalmOs can multitaks, but I always assumed it could not...

I guess the only way McAfee could sell this product is by creating their own Virus .....
create your own demand...

I think a backupmodule is a better anti virus sollution. before you receive any data, make a backup first... if it contains a virus, restore the backup... easy as �

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

quote:

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Originally posted by ToolkiT:
how can McAfee build a virus scanner if there are no Viri out there??
What will it detect?? It cannot use signatures since there are no PalmOS viri...
It could only detect viruslike behaviour, but that would mean it would need to run in the background... I'm not sure if PalmOs can multitaks, but I always assumed it could not...

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 247

My crazy, "conspiracy theory" is that viruses are created by antivirus companies. Therefore, now that we see an antivirus for the palm...we will soon see viruses. Damn, I wish they had just left us alone.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 241

Anyone Who's seen MI:2 Should remember that the whole plot was a company creating a new killer virus so they could make money on selling the antidote This idea's the same thing, just a diferent type of virus

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

quote:

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Originally posted by Tan Kit Hoong
My crazy, "conspiracy theory" is that viruses are created by antivirus companies. Therefore, now that we see an antivirus for the palm...we will soon see viruses. Damn, I wish they had just left us alone.

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__________________
Bret Snyder<BR>If you don't know where you're going,<BR>You'll probably end up somewhere else.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

quote:

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Originally posted by Bret Snyder
Is there some truth behind this? We didn't have a virus
until a antivirus program was created.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

Is it only me, or has anybody ever stopped to remember that we currently perform Hard-resets on our PalmOS PDA's quite often as it is? If a virus was ever to enter your Visor, it'd be a simple hard-reset and then re-sync.

Why would i want to pay for software when i can deal with the virus for free?!?!? Using a method that pretty much every PalmOS PDA user has done once in their lives???

What a scam they're running. AND it's getting hyped so much it's fooling a large number of people out there!

__________________
Ever feel like the train left while you were busy reading the paper?

Stealth-Mod.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Or, if you really want anti-virus software, and know that your not going to be at your computer then buy the back-up module. That way you can use the module if you need it for any other hard-resets.
BEN

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

quote:

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Originally posted by Hoser_in_USA
Why would i want to pay for software when i can deal with the virus for free?!?!? Using a method that pretty much every PalmOS PDA user has done once in their lives???

What a scam they're running. AND it's getting hyped so much it's fooling a large number of people out there!

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__________________
Bret Snyder<BR>If you don't know where you're going,<BR>You'll probably end up somewhere else.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

quote:

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Originally posted by Hoser_in_USA
Is it only me, or has anybody ever stopped to remember that we currently perform Hard-resets on our PalmOS PDA's quite often as it is? If a virus was ever to enter your Visor, it'd be a simple hard-reset and then re-sync.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: New Palestine, Indiana
Posts: 70

Norton Virus for Palm

Just for your information Symantec now has virus protection software for the palm OS.

http://www.symantec.com/press/2000/n000907.html

It's still in beta but I haven't had any stability problems or crashes.