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.
downloading packages and AntiVirus program
5 messages · RINNER Heinrich, Uwe Ligges, Brian Ripley +2 more
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
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
On 18-Jun-03 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.
I think you may be a victim of the blind paranoia that is increasingly afflicting system administrators in these virus-prone days. The file you are trying to download is a *.zip file, and you may find that your network admins have simply blocked all ingress of files with a ".zip" extension. I know of sites where ".exe", ".doc", ".xls" etc. are all automatically blocked, regardless of content, simply because _some_ such files contain viruses. As to your network hotline, it seems to me that it is staffed by dumb clucks sitting at terminals consulting their ARS (Action Request System -- I invent not -- which supplies on-line canned answers for user problems). I don't know what to suggest, if that's what you're up against. The best of luck. Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding at nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 167 1972 Date: 18-Jun-03 Time: 11:28:06 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
Hi, try to download http://www.obs.ee/~siim/RODBC_1.0-3 (without .zip) and to rename it to .zip on your own computer. Perhaps it helps. Ott | Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 11:28:06 +0100 (BST) | From: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding at nessie.mcc.ac.uk> |
| On 18-Jun-03 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. | | I think you may be a victim of the blind paranoia that is increasingly | afflicting system administrators in these virus-prone days. The file | you are trying to download is a *.zip file, and you may find that your | network admins have simply blocked all ingress of files with a ".zip" | extension. I know of sites where ".exe", ".doc", ".xls" etc. are all | automatically blocked, regardless of content, simply because _some_ | such files contain viruses. | | As to your network hotline, it seems to me that it is staffed by dumb | clucks sitting at terminals consulting their ARS (Action Request System | -- I invent not -- which supplies on-line canned answers for user | problems). | | I don't know what to suggest, if that's what you're up against. | | The best of luck. | Ted.