530 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
530 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
PC VIRUS LISTING
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By Jim Goodwin
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This document is copyrighted, 1989, by Jim Goodwin. It
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may be freely distributed provided no changes,
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additions or deletions are made, and providing this
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copyright notice accompanies all copies. I would like
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to thank John McAfee and the entire HomeBase users
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group for providing the raw materials for this
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document.
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It is difficult to name, identify and classify PC viruses.
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Everyone who first discovers a virus will name it and describe
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what they think of it. In most cases, the virus is not new and
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has been named and described dozens of times before. None of the
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names and few of the descriptions will match. While I'm writing
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this, for example, I feel certain that someone, somewhere has
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just been infected by the Jerusalem virus and they are telling
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their co-workers and friends about it as if it were newborn - and
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for them perhaps it is. It will be impossible to verify the
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strain and variety of the infection, however, unless we can get a
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living sample of the virus to analyze and compare with other
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strains of this same virus. So problem number one is filtering
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the reports of infection and collecting samples that can be
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placed under the knife.
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Problem number two is - where do you draw the line between
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an original virus and a true variation of the virus? The
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original Brain virus, for example, could only infect a floppy
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diskette. Do the varieties of the Brain that can infect hard
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disks (but in every other respect are identical) deserve to be
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called new viruses, or are they still the Brain? What about
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further modifications that destroy data? Is this now a new
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virus? What if someone extracts a segment of the Brain code and
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uses it as a basis for a new virus? What if nothing changes but
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the imbedded text data, so that the virus is in every way
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functionally identical, but the volume label changes to "SMURF"
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instead of BRAIN. All of these modifications to the Brain have
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been discovered and logged. How do we deal with them?
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I choose to deal with these modifications in the simplest
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way I know. If the virus differs in any way from the original
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(assuming that the "original" can in fact be identified), then I
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log it as a new strain. This relieves me from having to make
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decisions. Those of you who see the world differently can merely
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take this listing and lump together all of the different strains
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that you like. That way we'll all be happy.
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This will be, by the way, my last virus document. I have
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worked double time for the past eighteen months helping John
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McAfee and his Homebase folks and, while I have thouroughly
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enjoyed myself, I have finally burned out. It has been great fun
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and I've learned a lot, and hopefully some of my works, like the
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product review with Sankary and Marsh, will end up being somehow
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useful to the world. But now I have the irresistible urge to go
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fishing, and, perhaps afterwards, to contemplate my navel for a
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few years. In-between times I intend to write a book on the
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craziness in this industry and about the unique personalities
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I've had the pleasure to work with in the Virus Marine Corps.
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It's been quite an adventure. Thank you all.
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Jim Goodwin From the Homebase BBS 408 988 4004
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THE VIRUSES
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I have arranged these viruses so that similar varieties are
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described in the sequence in which they appeared within the virus
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sub-group (to the best of my knowledge). Not everyone agrees
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with my groupings. Many people believe, for instance, that the
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Golden Gate-C (Mazatlan Virus) is a distinctly original virus and
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is not a variation of the Alameda. I think differently and have
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endeavored to show how the Golden Gate evolved from the Alameda,
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through each precursor virus. I cannot prove, of course, that
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the sequence of appearances is the correct sequence, and in many
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cases I have had to guess. If anyone wishes to re-order
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these virus, I will not be offended.
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I have not included any of the specific application trojans
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in this list. There has been a lot of discussion about the Lotus
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123 and DBASE "viruses", for example. These are not replicating
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programs and I do not classify them as viruses. I had originally
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intended a separate list to include these non-replicating trojans
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but Time caught up with me.
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1. ALAMEDA VIRUS
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(Also called: Yale; Merritt; Pecking; Seoul)
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This is a boot sector infector. First discovered at Merritt
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college in California (1987). Original version caused no
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intentional damage. Replicates at boot time <ctrl>-<alt>-
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<del> and infects only 5 1/4" 360KB floppies. It saves the
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real boot sector at track 39, sector 8, head 0. Contains a
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count of the number of times it has infected other
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diskettes, although it is referenced for write only and is
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not used as part of an activation algorithm. The virus
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remains resident at all times after it is booted, even if no
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floppy is booted and BASIC is loaded. Contains a rare POP
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CS instruction that makes it incapable of infecting 286
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systems.
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2. ALAMEDA-B
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(Also called Sacramento Virus)
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This is the original Alameda Virus that has the POP CS
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removed. Relocation is accomplished through a long jump
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instruction. All other characteristics are identical. This
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version runs OK on a 286.
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3. ALAMEDA-C
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This is the Alameda-B virus that has been modified to
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disable the boot function after 100 infections. The
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counter in the original Alameda virus has been re-activated
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and is interrogated at each bootup. When it reaches 100 the
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virus disconnects from the original boot sector (control is
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no longer passed) and the diskette will no longer boot. At
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infection time, the counter is zeroed on the host diskette.
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4. SF VIRUS
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This is the Alameda-C that has been modified to format the
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boot diskette when the counter runs out.
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5. GOLDEN GATE VIRUS
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(Also called The 500 Virus)
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This is the SF Virus that has been modified to format the C
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drive when the counter runs out. The activation occurs
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after 500 infections, instead of 100 infections. Note that
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in all three of these strains, the counter is zeroed on the
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host diskette at infection time. Thus, the activation
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period on this virus will on the average stretch into many
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years. No corruption will occur until 500 new diskettes
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have been infected from within a given machine. Since the
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infection can only occur when the system is booted with a
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new diskette, infection is not frequent with this virus. I
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expect that the overwhelming majority of infections will
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never activate. The IBM PC will have long since been
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supplanted by another architecture in most environments.
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6. GOLDEN GATE-B
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This virus is the Golden Gate virus that has had the
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activation delay reset to 30 infections. This virus should
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activate within a couple of years in most environments.
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7. GOLDEN GATE-C
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(Also called the Mazatlan Virus)
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This virus is the Golden Gate virus that is able to infect a
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hard disk. It is a nasty virus, since it has more of an
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opportunity to do damage than previous versions. Prior
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versions were limited since systems with hard disks are only
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infrequently booted from floppy and booting from hard disk
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overwrote earlier versions.
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8. GOLDEN GATE-D
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This virus is identical to number 7, except the counter has
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been disabled (similar to original Alameda).
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9. THE BRAIN
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(Also called, Pakistani Brain; Basit Virus)
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This virus originated in January, 1986, in Lahore Pakistan.
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It is the only virus yet discovered that includes the valid
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names address and phone numbers of the original
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perpetrators. The Brain is a boot sector infector,
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approximately 3K in length, that infects 5 1/4" floppies.
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It cannot infect hard disks. It will infect a diskette
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whenever the diskette is referenced. For example, a
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Directory command, executing a program from the diskette,
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copying a file from or to the diskette or any other access
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will cause the infection to occur. The virus stores the
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original boot sector, and six extension sectors, containing
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the main body of the virus, in available sectors which are
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then flagged as bad sectors.
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The virus is able to hide from detection by intercepting any
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interrupt that might interrogate the boot sector and re-
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directing the read to the original boot sector. Thus,
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programs like the Norton Utilities will be unable to see the
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virus.
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Infected diskettes are noticeable by "@BRAIN" displayed in
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the volume label.
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10. BRAIN-B
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(Also called Brain-HD; the Hard Disk Brain; Houston Virus)
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This virus is identical in every respect to the original
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Brain, with the single exception that it can infect the C
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drive.
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11. BRAIN-C
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This virus is the Brain-B that has the volume label code
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removed. The volume label of infected diskettes does not
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change with this virus. This virus was difficult to detect
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since it does nothing overt in the system.
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12. CLONE VIRUS
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This virus is the Brain-C that saves the original boot
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copyright label and restores it to the infected boot. The
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Basit & Mjad original Brain messages have been replaced with
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non-printable garbage that looks like instructions if viewed
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through Norton or other utility. Even if the system is
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booted from a clean diskette, it is virtually impossible to
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tell, by visual inspection, whether the hard disk is
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infected.
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13. SHOE_VIRUS
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(Also called UIUC Virus)
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This virus is the Brain-B Virus that has been modified to
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include the message - "VIRUS_SHOE RECORD, v9.0. Dedicated
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to the dynamic memories of millions of virus who are no
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longer with us today". The message is never displayed.
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14. SHOE_VIRUS-B
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This is the Shoe_Virus that has been modified to so that it
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can no longer infect hard disks. The v9.0 has been changed
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to v9.1.
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15. ClONE-B
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This is the Clone virus that has been modified to corrupt
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the FAT when it is booted after May 5, 1992. There are no
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other apparent modifications.
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16. DOS-62
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(Also called the UNESCO Virus)
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This virus is a COM infector. It was first discovered in
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Moscow in April, 1988. It was first publicized in August
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1988 when it cropped up at a children's computer Summer camp
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run by UNESCO. When a program infected by this virus is
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executed, it infects one other COM file in the system. On a
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random basis, infected programs will perform a system re-
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boot when they are executed.
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17. 62-B
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This virus is similar to DOS-62 except the re-boot is
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replaced by deleting the executed program.
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18. FRIDAY THE 13th
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(Also called COM Virus; 512 virus)
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This virus is a non-resident COM infector that first
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appeared in South Africa in 1987. At each execution of an
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infected program the virus seeks out two other COM files on
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the C drive and one COM file on the A drive and infects
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them. The virus is extremely fast and the only indication
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of infection occurring is the access light on the A drive
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(if the current drive is C). The virus will only infect a
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file once.
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On every Friday 13 the virus deletes the host program if it
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is executed on that day (similar to the Jerusalem).
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19. Friday 13th-B
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This virus is identical to the original except that it
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infects every file in the current subdirectory. The only
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way this virus can spread beyond the current subdirectory is
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if an infected program ends up in the system PATH. Then
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every COM file in the currently selected subdirectory will
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get infected.
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20. Friday 13th-C
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This is the 13th-B except a message has been added that
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displays - "We hope we haven't inconvenienced you" appears
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whenever the virus activates.
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21. JERUSALEM
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(Also called Israeli; Friday the 13th; PLO)
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This virus is a memory resident COM and EXE infector. It
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was first discovered at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
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in the fall of 1987. It contains a flaw which makes it re-
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infect EXE files over and over until the files become too
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big to fit into memory. The virus re-directs interrupt 8
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(among others) and one-half hour after an infected program
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loads, the new timer interrupt introduces a delay which
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slows down the processor by a factor of about 10. On every
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Friday the 13, the virus deletes every program executed
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during the day.
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22. JERUSALEM-B
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This virus is identical to the Jerusalem except it is able
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to successfully identify pre-existing infections in EXE
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files and will only infect them once.
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23. JERUSALEM-C
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(Also called the New Jerusalem)
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This virus is identical to Jerusalem-B except that the timer
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interrupt delay code has been bypassed. This virus is
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virtually invisible until it activates.
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24. BLACK HOLE
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(Also called the Russian Virus)
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This virus is the Jerusalem-C that has odd text and
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additional code that is never referenced. A new interrupt
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eight routine is added to the non referenced area and a
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number of interrupt 21 calls which appear meaningless. The
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additional text includes - "ANTIVIRUS". It appears that
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this virus is a modified version of some previous variety of
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the Jerusalem which we have not yet seen.
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25. JERUSALEM-D
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This is the Jerusalem-C that destroys both versions of the
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FAT on any Friday the 13th after 1990. The code that
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originally deleted executed programs has been overwritten
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with the FAT destructive code.
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26. JERUSALEM-E
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This is identical to the D variety except the activation is
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any Friday the 13th after 1992.
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27. CENTURY VIRUS
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(Also called the Oregon Virus)
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This is similar to the Jerusalem-C except the activation
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date is January 1, 2000. When the virus activates, it
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erases both FATs on all connected drives and then begins
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writing zeroes to every sector on every attached device. If
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allowed to continue to completion, it displays the message -
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" Welcome to the 21st Century".
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28. CENTURY-B
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This virus is similar to the original Century virus with the
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following exception:
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It waits for BACKUP.COM to be executed and then garbles all
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program writes. After BACKUP terminates, the output
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functions return to normal.
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29. 1701
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(Also called Cascade; Falling Tears)
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This virus evolved from a trojan horse disguised as a
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utility to automatically turn off the num-lock light at
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system boot. The trojan horse caused the characters on the
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screen to fall to the bottom of the screen in systems with
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CGA monitors. In late 1977 this trojan horse was turned
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into a memory resident COM virus. It gets it's name from
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the size increase of infected COM files - 1701 bytes. The
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virus has some unique qualities:
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- It uses an encryption algorithm to avoid detection
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and complicate any attempted analysis.
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- It contains a sophisticated activation algorithm
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that is based on randomizations, machine types,
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monitor type, presence or absence of clock cards,
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and time of year.
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- It was designed to infect only IBM clones. True
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IBM systems would be spared.
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The virus has a bug that causes the machine selection
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algorithm to fail. The virus activates on any machine with
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a CGA or VGA monitor, in the months of September, October,
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November or December in the year 1980 or 1988 (systems
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without clock cards will often have a date set to 1980).
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30. 1701-B
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This virus is identical to the 1701 except that it activates
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in the fall of any year.
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31. 1704
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(Also called Cascade; Falling Tears)
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I would prefer to classify this virus as a variety of the
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1701 but it has been universally referred to as a separate
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virus, so I will go along with the crowd on this one. It is
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functionally identical to the 1701 except that the IBM
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selection bug has been repaired. The new virus is three
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bytes longer. In every other respect it is the same.
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32. 1704-B
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This virus is identical to the 1704, except the cascade
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display has been replaced with a system re-boot when the
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virus activates. The activation uses the same interrupt 8
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randomization algorithm, so the reboot will occur at a
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random time interval after executing an infected program on
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or after the activation date.
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33. 1704-C
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This virus is the same as the 1704-B, except the activation
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date has been changed to occur in December of any year.
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34. 1704-D
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This virus is the same as the 1704, except the IBM selection
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has been disabled (the virus infects true IBM PCs).
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35. LEHIGH
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This is a COMMAND.COM infector that first surfaced at Lehigh
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University in late 1987. It is the widest known virus, the
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most discussed and the most analyzed of all the viruses, so
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I won't waste any more time on it.
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36. SEARCH
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(Also called Den Zuk; Venezuelan)
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This is a boot sector infector that infects 360KB 5 1/4"
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floppies. It infects through any access to the host
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diskette. It can survive a warm reboot. It will infect
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data (non-system) diskettes, which in turn can pass on the
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infection if an accidental attempt to boot from the data
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disk occurs. It has a bug which causes it incorrectly
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attempt to infect 3.5" diskettes. This will overwrite the
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diskette's FAT and cause a read (or write) failure. It
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cannot infect a hard disk, and will not attempt to do so.
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If an infected system is rebooted from the hard disk, the
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virus will de-activate. This is not the case with rebooting
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from a clean floppy - which will become infected.
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The virus causes CGA, EGA and VGA screens to display a
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purple "DEN ZUK" graphic to appear after a <ctrl>-<alt>-
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<del>. It causes no damage.
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37. SEARCH-HD
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This virus is identical to the Search Virus, except it's
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able to infect hard disks.
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38. SEARCH-B
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This virus is identical to the Search virus, but
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unsuccessful modifications have been made to fix the 3.5"
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diskette problem. The 3.5" infection still fails, plus
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unsuccessful attempts to infect the hard disk will occur
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which result in system failure in some systems.
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39. SYS VIRUS
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This virus is really a modification of the Search-HD virus.
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The display code has been replaced (no display occurs on
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reboot) by code that disables the SYS program. The SYS
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program itself is not modified, but any attempt to execute
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SYS will result in the program not being loaded. Instead,
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multiple reads to the source and target drives will occur
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(to simulate the SYS activity). The normal SYS message
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output is displayed by the virus at the appropriate time.
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This virus will successfully avoid being removed by SYS.
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The virus does no damage.
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40. SYS-B
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This is similar to the SYS virus, but it performs a hard
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disk format on any Friday 13th after 1990. This virus, and
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its precursor virus both still contain the 3.5" bug, so that
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they are easily detected on systems using 3.5" drives. They
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are difficult to detect on other systems.
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41. SYS-C
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Similar to the SYS virus but performs random reboots
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beginning 2 hours after power-on or initial boot.
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42. 648 VIRUS
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(Also called the Austrian Virus)
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This is a COM infector that increases the size of the
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infected file by 648 bytes. It was first reported in London
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in the fall of 1988. It is not a memory resident virus. It
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infects the next uninfected COM file in the current
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directory (similar to the original Friday 13th). It does no
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overt damage.
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43. 648-B
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This is similar to the 648, but it causes infrequent errors
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in the infected COM file so that the file will not execute.
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Approximately one file in ten will be corrupted.
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44. STONED
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(Also called New Zealand Virus)
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This is a boot sector infector that infects 360 KB 5 1/4"
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floppies. It was first reported in Wellington, New Zealand
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in early 1988). It displays - "Your computer is now stoned.
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Legalize Marijuana" every 8th bootup. No overt damage.
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Unable to infect hard disk.
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45. STONED-B
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Variation of Stoned. Has been changed to be able to infect
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hard disks. The hard disk is infected as soon as an
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infected floppy is booted. No intentional damage done,
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except systems with RLL controllers will frequently hang.
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46. STONED-C
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This is the Stoned-B virus that no longer displays the
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"Stoned" message. This virus is difficult to detect.
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47. VERA CRUZ
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(Also Called Bouncing Ball; Italian Virus)
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This is a boot sector virus that was first reported in March
|
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1988. It is a floppy-only infector.
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When this virus activates (randomly) a bouncing dot appears
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on the screen and can only be removed through reboot. No
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|
other damage is done.
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48. VERA CRUZ-B
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This is a variation of the Vera Cruz that is able to infect
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Hard disks.
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