BKSHRTVR.RVW 940329 Wiley 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 or 22 Worchester Road Rexdale, Ontario M9W 9Z9 800-263-1590 800-567-4797 fax: 800-565-6802 or 605 Third Avenue New York, NY 10158-0012 USA 800-263-1590 800-CALL-WILEY 212-850-6630 Fax: 212-850-6799 jdemarra@wiley.com aponnamm@jwiley.com "A Short Course on Computer Viruses", Cohen, 1994, 0-471-00768-4, $34.95 fc@jupiter.saic.com This book is fun. I mean, it starts out with the statement, "I would like to start with a formal definition," followed by about a paragraph's worth of symbolic logic, followed by, "So, much for that!" I assume that the surface joke is accessible to all: for those who know of the troubles Dr. Cohen has had over the years with those who insist on an informal translation of his work, it is doubly funny. From that beginning right through to Appendix A (a joke) the light tone is maintained throughout, and it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read. Besides being fun, though, the book is solid material. Possibly one could raise quibbles over certain terms or minor details, but almost nothing of substance. The only halfway controversial point in the book is Dr. Cohen's continued crusade on behalf of "benevolent" viral programs. While I agree that the concept is worth further study, Dr. Cohen has not yet applied the rigour of his earlier work to proofs that such programming can be guaranteed safe or that benevolent viral programs are the best way to accomplish the examples used. The material in the book will be accessible to any intelligent reader, regardless of the level of computer knowledge. The most benefit, however, will be to those planning data security or antiviral policies and procedures. They will find here a thoughtful, provoking and insightful analysis. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKSHRTVR.RVW 940329 ============= Vancouver p1@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca | "Metabolically Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | challenged" Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca | User p1@CyberStore.ca | politically correct Security Canada V7K 2G6 | term for "dead"