what security and confidence do you have in os 3.9 online? are we in a linux "no need for virus scanner position?" and what basic security updates have there been since it was released. (i am assuming none.)
other than that what are the essential programs when online? is there anything like real player or a plugin for a lowly 040? thanks.

Amiga OS is not a secure operating system--no memory protection, no access control, etc.--so it's really up to you to determine what's safe to execute and what's not. (Actually, it's always up to you, regardless of the operating system.) I'd say the risk of a remote attack is almost nil, but using a simple firewall and address translation--features provided by most consumer routers--should mitigate any risk.

And it's probably a good idea to stay away random collections of games. There's a good chance they're pooh. Others on the forum can point out the best antivirus solutions for the Amiga.

I don't use my Amigas for online entertainment, so I don't have anything to recommend re: software.

I hate virus protection software, they hog down the computer.
Use a Virtual Machine to test out software, and for Amiga, use Emulation. I've been running virusfree since a long time now, and I have no antivirus software running. Once in a while I do install one, check the whole system, and uninstall it.

The best way to avoid virii is to use common sense.

I'd install some virus scanner with latest xvs.library. You can get them from Virus Help DK pages mentioned earlier. I think it's not necessary to run them all the time at background... just check any new files you're going to install or run and do full disk scan sometimes.

Although there probably isn't any new viruses, old viruses can make trouble still. For example the HNY96 virus is still quite commmon. You can see arcives infected by it several times a year still. For example there is one demoscene production containing it released this year already.

And about security risks when going online with OS3.9... you should notice that Genesis TCP/IP stack has filesharing capatibilities (like Samba) enabled by default and any other Amiga user can mount any of your partitions for reading and writing! So I'd advice you to either limit the access rights or disable the service completely.

For a start, I'd recommend to make .nomount file (can be empty) for root dir of each partition which you never want to be mounted for anyone. Then you won't have all files open to world, if you change your network configs later.

Then if you want to limit mounting from outside world, you have several options. If you're using router, don't forwad the port 2500 to your Amiga. You can also deny the access to that service from amitcp:db/inet.access file from certain IP-addresses.. or just allow it from certain addresses etc.

For disabling it completely uncomment amiganetfs line from amitcp:db/inetd.conf (or use Genesis Prefs and uncheck "enable" from Database->Inetd->amiganetfs).

i won't start a new thread...

how compatible is os 3.9 with os 3.1 stuff. i'm thinking about games only really. do i still need an os 3.1 partition? i can't remember.

if i remember right idefix comes on the os 3.9 disk? only i trod on my disk but i still have the serial number.

Krusher wrote:
I hate virus protection software, they hog down the computer.

Depends on the software, AVG is ok performance-wise (although it's detecting capabilities are probably not the best).

Use a Virtual Machine to test out software

Or use a dedicated sandboxing software, e.g: Sandboxie

In a mainstream OS always log into a user (restricted) account and always use a good sandboxing software for untrusted apps. While possibly not entirely bulletproof, yet a highly secure solution for your everyday needs.

Note: you can use your favourite browser in the sandbox for further security just in case, also any app you install in the sandbox will not screw up your system settings, very convenient for trying different software and/or different versions of one.

monami wrote:
what security and confidence do you have in os 3.9 online? are we in a linux "no need for virus scanner position?"

OS3.9 is quite possibly the ultimate 'security through obscurity' OS around.

The OS itself is by design not secure, but as it lacks almost all modern points of attack and isn't capable to run any Windows of Linuxsoftware, this is not a real problem. The only viruses you have to fear are the bog-standard Amigaviruses from the good old days.

wow..VIRUS...they are to busy making them for Wintel machines. I remember my first one I got. "BYTE BANDIT"