Download The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

System Management Information
5.2
Are there any known viruses for OpenVMS?
Viruses are very common on PCs because the PC operating systems
such as MS-DOS and MacOS do not implement any sort of scheme to
protect the operating system or the file system against hostile action by
programs. On these operating systems, any running program can subvert
the operating system and take over the hardware, at which point it can
do anything it wishes, including hiding copies of itself in other programs
or in the file system.
This is unlikely on OpenVMS, Unix, and MVS for three reasons. First,
the operating system runs in a privileged mode in memory that is
protected against modification by normal user programs. Any old program
cannot take over the hardware as it can on PC operating systems.
Secondly, OpenVMS, Unix, and MVS have file systems that can be set
up so that non-privileged programs cannot modify system programs and
files on disk. Both of these protection schemes mean that traditional PC
virus schemes don’t work on these OSes. Third, typical applications and
configurations tend to prevent the uncontrolled execution of untrusted
code as part of email messages or web access.
It is possible for OpenVMS, etc., to be infected by viruses, but to do so,
the program containing the virus must be run from a user account that
has amplified privileges. As long as the system administrator is careful
that only trusted applications are run from such accounts (and this is
generally the case), there is no danger from viruses.
To protect against viruses and other attempts at system interference or
misuse, follow the recommendations in the "OpenVMS Guide to System
Security". You may also want to consider optional software products
which can monitor your system for intrusion or infection attempts.
Computer Associates (CA) offers various products in this area.
Rocksoft offers the Veracity data integrity tool (for info, send mail to
[email protected]).
5.3
How do I mount an ISO-9660 CD on OpenVMS?
ISO-9660 support was added in the following releases:
•
OpenVMS VAX V6.0
•
OpenVMS AXP V1.5
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