[DECtalk] the grossgang folder on google drive

[Don]

Hi Aksel,

On 11/10/2021 5:11 PM, Aksel Leo Christoffersen wrote:
> Thank you for the information. My point about the files being on the site
> for a long time was, that there's then a good chance that they've been
> tested before hand, or by other people, who has downloaded the files. If
> they discovered a virus or malware, they would have plenty of time to report
> back, so the file could be removed.

I think folks are "less confident" making A V claims as there is so much
variation in what A V products *claim* about a particular file.  If
the A V product that you use says a file is infected, how sure of that
are you?  And, if other folks apply their A V tools to the file and
see a negative result, will they assume their A V product is faulty?
Or, yours?

In either case, what will their attitude towards the file in question be?

So, imagine I tell you that my A V product flags one of the files that
you are hosting as "infected".  You'll likely test it with your A V product.
But, presumably, you'd already done that before posting it!  Will you
now take down the file based on my report?  Or, will you leave it up
on the assumption that my report may have been a false positive?

The best way to deal with "foreign" files is to assume they can
contain malware and treat them accordingly.  I don't run any A V products
on any of my machines because they all come with associated costs/overhead.

But, only this machine is "exposed" so any malware that infects it would
be able to benefit from its internet connection (e.g., to "report home").
The rest of my machines are isolated from the Internet so any malware is
effectively "jailed", once on those.

If I suspect something of containing malware, I access it in a "sandbox" and
observe its actions, there.  If I see it trying to "drop turds" in places
that it shouldn't, I use that as a positive confirmation of "unexpected
behavior" -- even if an A V product claims it is "clean".

Note that a truly stealthy virus could evade initial detection and
still screw me over "down the road".