[R] R 2.12.0 - malware detect by antivirus software

[Paulo Barata]

Dr. Murdoch and Dr. Ligges,

After my contacts with Avira, it seems that the issue caused by
their antivirus software (a false positive alarm) has been solved.
Now I have been able to install R 2.12.0 flawlessly.

Thank you.

Paulo Barata

--------------------------------------------------------------------

On 17/10/2010 17:53, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> Paulo Barata wrote:
>> Dear Dr. Murdoch,
>>
>> My thanks to you and to Dr. Ligges for your replies.
>>
>> I will do my part and will inform Avira about what happened.
>> If possible, I will send then the R 2.12.0 installation
>> file for their examination. As Dr. Ligges said, it is quite
>> possible indeed that a false positive alarm has happened.
>>
>> But please allow me to point out that Avira, as far as I know,
>> is considered to be one of the best pieces of antivirus software
>> in the market. See, for instance, the AV Comparatives web site at
>> www.av-comparatives.org. No antivirus software is 100% perfect,
>> that is, in the real world there is no software with a 0% false
>> positive rate. Or, looking from the other side, every antivirus
>> software is "sloppy" in some way. Considering that fact,
>> shouldn't the R core team have some definite policy with regard
>> to false positive alarms concerning the R installation file?
>> Is this the first time that this happened? Will this be the last
>> time?
>
> This is by no means the first time, and I doubt it will be the last
> time.
> I think our policy is listed in the banner that prints when you
> start R:
>
> "R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY."
>
> If you want a stronger warranty, you could try looking at commercial
> software (or commercial builds of R), but I doubt you'll get one
> that's worth very much.
>
> Duncan Murdoch
>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Paulo Barata
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On 17/10/2010 17:10, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
>>> Uwe Ligges wrote:
>>>> I checked with two online services which ran more than 40
>>>> different virus scanners on the file and only Avira gave a
>>>> warning. Hence I assume it is a false positive with Avira and you
>>>> can go on with the installation.
>>>>
>>>> @ Duncan as the maintainer for the binary setup installer: It
>>>> might make sense to report the false positive to Avira in order to
>>>> protect ourselves from dozens of messages on this list tomorrow.
>>>> Additionally, you may want to add a note on the CRAN download page.
>>>>
>>> I don't think so. False positives from sloppy virus checkers are too
>>> common. Paulo may want to help out Avira by pointing out their
>>> error, but I won't.
>>>
>>> Duncan Murdoch
>>>
>>>> Best wishes,
>>>> Uwe Ligges
>>>>
>>>> On 17.10.2010 20:18, Paulo Barata wrote:
>>>>> Dear R-list members,
>>>>>
>>>>> I have just downloaded R 2.12.0 for Windows. When installing,
>>>>> my antivirus software detected some malware during the
>>>>> installation process.
>>>>>
>>>>> I use Windows XP SP3. My antivirus software is Avira Premium
>>>>> Security Suite, product version 10.0.0.542 (19/4/2010),
>>>>> search engine 8.02.04.82 (14/10/2010), virus definition file
>>>>> 7.10.12.231 (17/10/2010). That software said: "Malware found".
>>>>> When I clicked in "details", I found this information: object:
>>>>> open.exe; Detection: TR/ATRAPS.Gen. Consulting the Avira web
>>>>> site, this is indicated as a Trojan, dated 15 May 2008.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have repeated the installation process twice, always with
>>>>> the same malware detection. When installing, I used the English
>>>>> language, I ticked the "Technical Manuals", "PDF help pages"
>>>>> and "docs for Packages grid and Matrix", and I used the
>>>>> default options.
>>>>>
>>>>> Should I proceed with the installation of that version of R?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you very much.
>>>>>
>>>>> Paulo Barata
>>>>>
>>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> Paulo Barata
>>>>> Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz - Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
>>>>> Rua Leopoldo Bulhoes 1480 - 8A
>>>>> 21041-210 Rio de Janeiro - RJ
>>>>> Brazil
>>>>>
>>>>> E-mail: pbarata at infolink.com.br
>>>>> Alternative e-mail: paulo.barata at ensp.fiocruz.br
>>>>>
>>>>> ______________________________________________
>>>>> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
>>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>>>>> PLEASE do read the posting guide
>>>>> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>>>>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>>>
>
>
>