Since text can obviously transmit a virus, then are they going to virus check every webpage that gets downloaded into a browser as well?
In theory, bumble bees cannot fly. In reality Windows systems are such Swiss Cheese that using them for anything critical is a mistake. If the source of your EDI files is a compromised Windows machine, then it could contain... commands? how? Okay "rh.edidev" mentioned that some X12 formats have a BIN segment. "Cool!", I thought to myself as I can imagine getting Craig to accidentally send me a bunch of toys from Big 5. Unfortunately the link provided regarding information on the BIN segment is a broken link. Craig doesn't do medical claims though. That doesn't mean the translator that he's using doesn't recognize them. This is the same idea as using a buffer-overflow. Okay, that's not a virus, that's an exploit of a software bug. No amount of virus scanning is going to stop that. The only prevention for that is to write your own software, or join an open source project where you can analyze and/or fix anything you need to. Also, in that particular case the attacker would have to have targeted your company specifically; not just send a script out to the Internet that eventually impacts you directly. Charlotte makes a good point regard how much of your profit margin is going to go to prevention of unlikely events. I would suggest that in addition to virus checking every 1 and 0 that enters any form of metallic, or optic, cable owned by, leased by, or in any way related to your company; that you also take precautions against meteorites, the Andromeda Strain (at least it's early stages), inter-dimensional teleporting monkeys with infinite supplies of laughing gas, and the Boogey Man (some people won't let the 70's rest). If you want to take the easy route, instead of preparing for all of these, I sell insurance polices for such catastrophes; competitive rates too. All of that aside, there are two other things to look for outside of software exploits. First, Microsoft made this great feature of hiding file extensions for common file types; like ".txt" and ".scr". "SCR" is for "screen saver" and is the same as an EXE for this example. So I can name a file big_retailers_x12_file.txt.scr and if the "scr" is hidden, you will think it's text. If you just hand this to your translator it will choke because it's not programmed to process screen saver files (I hope!). The second possibility is that a virus is programmed to attach itself to a text file, or specifically X12 files (whoo hoo!). Virus writers would NOT waste their time with this, but if they did; the result is the same as above. If you commonly double-click on your X12 files, there's a slight risk. If this is part of your workflow I would say the chances of getting a virus via these methods would happen once every few thousand times around the galaxy; okay, maybe only a few hundred times around, sorry to exaggerate. Considering that almost all security compromises happen from employees either being evil, ignorant, or just plain stupid; that's where the bulk of security resources should be spent. Spending too much on unlikely vectors is a great way to blow some cash. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be reviewed for potential holes, and if any are found they certainly need to be taken care of. Changing your daily workflow to eat up resources just in case Everest floods isn't worth it. Troy McGuire Software Designer Plexis Healthcare Systems, Inc. 385 Williamson Way, Ashland, OR 97520 PH (541) 494-2563 http://www.plexisweb.com <http://www.plexisweb.com/> [EMAIL PROTECTED] Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix.Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
