12) DOS file attributes protect executable files from infection (Favourite myths - Computer virus)
Description
This article is from the Computer viruses FAQ, by David Harley D.Harley@icrf.icnet.uk, George Wenzel gwenzel@telusplanet.net and Bruce Burrell bpb@umich.edu with numerous contributions by others.
12) DOS file attributes protect executable files from infection (Favourite myths - Computer virus)
File attributes are set by software, and can therefore be
changed by software, including viruses. Many viruses reset a
ReadOnly/System/Hidden file to Read/Write, infect it, and
often reset it to the original attributes afterwards.
This also applies to other software mechanisms such as
simulating hardware write-protection on a hard disk.
However, file protection rights in NetWare *can* help to
contain virus infections, if set up properly, as can
trustee rights. [Trustee assignments govern whether an
individual user has right of access to a subdirectory: the
Inherited Rights Mask governs the protection rights of
individual files and (sub)directories.]
Basically, a file virus has the same rights of access as the
user who happens to inadvertantly activate it.
Setting up these levels of security is really a function
of the network Administrator, but you might like to check
(politely) that yours is not only reassuringly paranoid but
also knowledgeable about viruses as well as networks, since a
LAN which is not, in this respect, securely configured, can
result in very rapid infection and reinfection of files
across the whole LAN. In particular, accounts with supervisor
equivalence can, potentially, be the unwitting cause of very
rapid dissemination of viruses.
[See also the comp.virus FAQ (version 2) section D]
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