This review has been typed out by hand, and as such may have typos and such in it, as well as it missing the screenshots included in the original print version.
UPDATE: I've managed to aquire scans of the original magazine: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3
The review's quite favourable to Slayer, but it is a little unfair to both Slayer and VZap. For example, Alaisdair highlights the fact VZap can't repair itself if it has been infected like Slayer can, but doesn't highlight the fact that Killer can't either. He also doesn't point out that Killer's claim to detect all (see Virus removal) known viruses is clearly wrong, as Slayer detected viruses Killer didn't. It also doesn't mention the irritation that having to keep doing scans until it doesn't find anything can cause, as Killer couldn't (it might these days) cope with nested infections - it'd only go one level. For example, if the Extend virus, which is a module, was itself infected by the Module virus, which infects modules, Killer would only flag the Module virus. Neither VZap or Slayer suffered from this problem. Also, the review says that Slayer couldn't scan network drives, which was just untrue. It was more than happy to scan them, and even offered them in the file systems menu. What the networking support was to do (and I explained this at length to Aliasdair - sigh) was distributed updates, logging, and remote control of Slayer.
The review certianly favours Slayer over VZap, so I can't really complain. It also highlights the two main aims of Slayer - to create a virus killer that was quicker and less memory and CPU hungry than Killer - which we managed. At school, we had to have a virus killer running on the machine. Which meant using Killer on a 1MB machine meant you couldn't do much else.
Many over-enthusiastic Acorn users will have you believe that viruses are not something we should worry about. Fortunately, there aren't many viruses on this platform compared to others, but that is no reason for complacency. Viruses running under RISC OS can be just as deadly as those found elsewhere.
Only a handful of new strains have been discovered on the RISC OS platform so far this year, yet the Windows platform has already encountered a number of headline-making viruses, capable of wiping out entire networks. Luckily, you are safe from these hordes of PC viruses unless you have a PC card or use some form of emulation on your Acorn, in which case be sure to install appropriate checking software for that too.
Almost everyone will have encountered the rather harmless Icon and Module viruses on their Acorn at some stage, but there are some that are much more deadly than these plain self-replicating strains. Moreever, even if a virus doesn't destroy your work, it may, due to being badly written, destabilise your computer simply by running. For that reason, all viruses are dangerous, even the so-called 'safe' ones.
Once a virus infection has taken place from any source, it must be removed as soon as possible. It is possible to manually remove some viruses but this is not recommended; it is tedious work and there is a risk of missing one infection and seeing a whole disc reinfected. For this reason, virus protection programs that automatically remove viruses are strongly recommended.
There are currently three up-to-date virus protectors on the RISC OS platform: Slayer, VZap and Killer, which this review will concentrate on. Other PD virus checking / removal programs exist, but either they only deal with specific viruses or their authors have ceased to maintain them in line withthe appearance of new viruses.
Slayer is the new kid on the block. The product has been under development for over four years now and a full release should have taken place by the time you read this. The good news is that it will be freeware: see the product info box for details of where to download it. This review is based upon version 0.55 which does not at this time include network code: a small charge will be made for this. Slayer was written by Kiwi Software (UK). Killer is the most established and only commercial virus killer on the market. A year's subscription of £28.20 buys you into the Pineapple Virus Protection Scheme which includes a copy of the program and regular updates throughout the year. Killer is maintained by Alan Glover, a former Acorn employee now working on set-top boxes for iMagicTV by day. Killer version 3.202 was reviewed.
Both the others are capable of detecting a satisfactory number of virus straings, and managed to deal with all those I have encountered in the wild. It is worth pointing out that leading-brand Windows anti-virus programs only check for recent strains of virus: to check the full list at every scan would be an intolerable slow process.
Slayer not as effective as Killer, it only detected around three-quarters of the infections present. However, a handful of strains were detected and removed by Slayer which went unnoticed by Killer. VZap didn't detect as many infections as Killer but was able to successfully remove all that it did find.
Killer checks the integrity of its files regularly while running as well as when loading. The alien file was detected and reported to the user almost instantly. However, a reinstall was necessary in order to restore the !Run file. Slayer also detected the file and the !Run file modification almost instantly. Slayer was also able to rebuild its !Run file thus saving the user from a full reinstall. VZap reported that it had been tampered with but required reinstallation. VZap's course of action is acceptable but it would have been nicer to have seen it delete the file and rebuild the !Run file as with Slayer.
The protection module, VProtect, was disabled for this test to allow viruses to wage war on the trio of apps without restraint. Applications where booted, loaded and operated to simulate an everyday situation in the real world.
Killer itself had become infected so a clean copy was used from a write-protected floppy disc.
Killer was able to deal with all viruses in memory on start-up and those on disc too. A second scan was necessary to deal with one multiple infection but apart from that, Killer coped excellently. As demonstrated in the previous tests, Slayer was again able to disinfect itself of an Icon infection on start-up. The program then coped well and removed all the viruses stated in its documentation. When run from a write-protected floppy disc, VZap was able to start and then fared similarly to Slayer.
Usability is an important feature in any virus protection product. A user with little computer experience should be able to install the product and remove viruses from a system without having to take a PhD in computer science. Slayer includes many options to allow cutomisation by more experienced users but it will work just fine out of the box for those less so. For example, it is possible to instruct Slayer to scan a particular directory on start-up.
This feature could be very useful for ensuring that particularly sensitive areas remain clean (download folders, !Boot structure, and so on). Killer is also well suited to the first time user, as it includes a printed guide and has an intuitive user interface.
When scanning, it also employs a progress box very similar to the standard filer action window, as does Slayer. This is also good for first time users, unlike VZap's large, daunting status window which fills a large proportion of the screen on older machines.
Slayer is, without doubt, the fastest of the three. The engine is highly optimised, resulting in lighting-fast scanning times - also good for reassuring new users.
Killer comes second with VZap crawling across the line in third place. Slayer is also a much neater program, occupying less than hald the memory Killer does during normal operations as well as being far less demanding on processor time while inactive.
These factors might not sound important to 50Mb StrongARM Risc PC users but they might be to schools, where hardware resources can be far more limited.
Another aspect of Slayer which deserves some praise is the ability to calculate 'Finger Prints' for specified files and then keep a lookout for changes to those files.
This will no doubt aid the detection of new strains of virus as well as helping to guard against existing ones.
Slayer also includes a small program called Authorise which may be used to restrict access to floppy discs which have not previously been approved for use on the system.
Such a feature would be very useful in schools, where the authorisation only of certain work discs would deter students from bringing in programs from home.
Comprehensive network support is planned for Slayer in the near future but there will be a small charge to add that functionality to the freeware version.
Killer and VZap are both fully equipped to scan network drivers but Slayer's network code should set the standard if things continue as they are. All three products are still being actively developed with the major new version of VZap due before the end of the year.
All the authors have promised to support their products for as long as there are users, but if fast response really matters, go for Killer.
Due to the large number of existing users, samples of future viruses are bound to reach the authors of Killer first.
Arrangements are also in place for subscribers to Kiler's Virus Protection Scheme to receive upgrades by post as they occur. A mechanism for automati updates from the Internet is planned for Slayer prior to final release, a feature which all virus killers could benefit from.
To conclude, if you use your computer regularly for distributing files or downloading from dubious Internet sites then go for Killer for peace of mind alone. Otherwise download Slayer: it's completely free and should be sufficient for the average home user.
Product: Killer Price: £28.50 (£23.50 / annum for renewals) Supplier: Pineapple Software, 352 Green Lane, Illford, Essex, IG3 9JS Web: www.pineaple.demon.co.uk EMail: sales@pineaple.demon.co.uk Phone: 0181 599 1476 Fax: 0181 598 2342 Product: Slayer Price: Free Supplier: Kiwi Software (UK), 12 The Quantocks, Diben Purlieu, The New Forest, Hampshire, SO45 5QU. Phone: 0238 084 6431 Web: www.virusslayer.cjb.net Email: unciscy@eh.or Product: VZap Price: £10 (shareware registration) Supplier: Paul Vigay Web: www.vigay.com Email: pvigay@interalpha.co.uk
