                                Protector 1.00.7

   Simple (free) e-mail attachment filter, useful for basic virus protection.

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Package information

   Package name                  protector
   Version                       1.00.7
   Release date                  September 2002
   Author                        Christopher M. R. Lowth -- chris@lowth.com
   Licence terms                 GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.
   Latest version available from http://protector.sourceforge.net

   The author invites comments - bug reports, requests for change, code
   submissions etc. E-mail them to me at chris@lowth.com

   NOTE: This software includes a modified version of the "file" command (see
   "file.patch"), that is capable of determining the mime-type of a file
   (when used with the "-i" option). This utility is subject to the
   copyrights and restrictions detailed within it's own source tree. See the
   contents of the tarball file "file-3.27.tar" for details. This new option
   is now part of the official RedHat Linux 7.0 and 7.1 builds.

Credits

   I am grateful to G. Roderick Singleton (gerry@pathtech.org) for his work
   in porting version 1.00.1 to Sun Solaris. His work and notes have been
   integrated into this release.

   I have also heard of others having some success building and installing
   for other Linux distributions.

Downloading

   You may down-load the source code from http://protector.sourceforge.net.

   The source can be used to build binary versions for RedHat linux and Sun
   Solaris (equipped with the GNU make C and compiler which are freely
   available from Sun's free software web site www.sunfreeware.com).

   News stories of progess compiling for other unix platforms would be much
   appreciated - please mail them to chris@lowth.com.

Overview

   This software aims to provide a basic level of protection against
   undesirable content in e-mail attachments delivered to users of linux
   systems (or mail POP3 clients connected to them). It is designed to be
   "fail safe" in that it does not actually check for viruses, but prevents
   delivery of attachments of a type that could contain a virus - or more
   specifically - it only permits delivery of attachments that cannot contain
   viruses. It follows a "better safe than sorry" paradigm.

   If you use this software you are less likely to be infected by e-mail
   delivered viruses, but you are also likely to be prevented from receiving
   a number of "clean" files.

   THIS PROGRAM IS NOT A VIRUS SCANNER - And this is one of its advantages.
   The authors of virus scanners fight a continual battle to keep their
   database of virus signatures up to date, and the users of these programs
   continually need to update their local copies of the database (via time
   consuming downloads from the internet). The approach taken by "protector"
   is designed to bye-pass this problem by blocking the delivery of file
   types that *could* contain viruses. For many organisations, this is quite
   acceptable. For example: Many network administrators advise their DOS and
   Windows users never to run .exe programs received via email, but find that
   their advice is ignored. The "protector" suite of programs provides a FREE
   way of policing this policy by preventing ANY .exe programs from being
   delivered (and/or any other types we wish).

   I use this software in a network of Windows machines that use a single
   linux server as the e-mail gateway - via a POP3 server for collection of
   messages and "sendmail 8" for delivery. In this setup, "protector" takes
   the place of the "procmail" MDA installed as "standard" in the linux box
   (its a RedHat 6.1 system). Sendmail calls "protector" as the MDA,
   "protector" checks (and possibly: modifies) the messages and then passes
   them on to the original "procmail" software. In other words: "protector"
   sits between sendmail and procmail and is invoked for local delivery of
   mail.

References

     * See the file "INSTALL" for installation instructions.

     * Read the file "NOTES" for a very brief description of how the program
       works.

     * The user guide is in "GUIDE"
