[R] downloading packages and AntiVirus program

[Prof Brian Ripley]

I've just run that file past two different virus scanners (Sophos and 
Norton, both fully updated) wiht no hits.

I think you can reasonably ask your sysadmins to demonstrate to you what 
the virus is and in which file in the zip it is.

I suspect they do not check ftp downloads, so you could try that:

fttp://cran.at.r-project.org/pub/R/bin/windows/contrib/1.7/RODBC_1.0-3.zip


On Wed, 18 Jun 2003, Uwe Ligges wrote:

> RINNER Heinrich wrote:
> 
> > Dear R-users!
> > 
> > I am using R 1.7.0, under Windows XP;
> > I also have Internet Explorer 6.0.2600.0000, Norton AntiVirus 7.60.926.
> > 
> > Our firewall seems to want to "protect" me from downloading precompiled
> > packages for Windows.
> > When I try to download packages, like
> > http://cran.at.r-project.org/bin/windows/contrib/1.7/RODBC_1.0-3.zip
> > for example, I am not allowed to and get a message like this:
> > 
> > "The content you just requested had a problem and was blocked by the
> > Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine based on local administrator settings."
> > 
> > I called our network hotline, but they insisted that these files contain
> > viruses and wouldn't let me download them. As I'm sure that not all packages
> > on CRAN will contain viruses (!), I am asking here for support, maybe in the
> > form of arguments like "These files definitely contain no viruses, but they
> > may give false virus warnings because ...".
> > Has anyone else experienced this problem?
> > 
> > Regards,
> > Heinrich.
> 
> As an alternative you can compile from sources (and hope no viruses' 
> source code is in there).
> 
> Hopefully there are no viruses in those binary packages on CRAN. The 
> virus scanner on the machine that compiles the packages is up to date, 
> but having the most recent virus scanner doesn't imply to be free of 
> viruses. Virus free packages cannot be guaranteed.
> 
> Uwe Ligges
> 
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> 

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595