On Tue, 5 Dec 89 18:07:45 EST A. Harry Williams said:
>First we had the CHRISTMA EXEC, and now we have the DIR EXEC.  Both
>have had a negative impact on the network.  Fortunately, both have not
>been as serious as they had the potential.  In both cases, explosive
>propagation has been done via NAMES files, but I know of no case in either
>where one of those NAMES files caused distribution over a major Listserv
>List.  However, it is only a matter of time.  ...
 
Don't believe it didn't happen Harry...  I recall getting a few transferred
files to me as LSV postmaster since nearly all my lists are set to Files= No
or (Files=Yes and Formcheck= Yes).  CHRISTMA EXEC was one of those files.
These lists are L-VMCTR and IBM-MAIN; they are large and/or peered.
After all, I have NAMES file entries for quite a few lists to separate
incoming/outgoing mail into "list NOTEBOOK A" files.  So, the possibility
that a list was "infected" by a CHRISTMA EXEC seems quite high given these
past events.  Luckily, lists were monitored, shutdown or changed to Files= No
back then (it just didn't get out of hand).
 
>Harry
 
Gary