WormGuard™ is a system extension that actively protects you from the AutoStart 9805 worm whenever a volume is mounted or a file is accessed by any application. If the infection is found, it is automatically removed and you are notified of what happened via the MacOS Notification Manager.
How much does it cost?
I am releasing WormGuard™ to the general public as freeware; however, I retain the copyright to the software.
What's the "catch"?
My only request is that if you find WormGuard™ to be useful and would be interested in a comprehensive, feature-rich, high quality Macintosh antivirus product, send me your e-mail and/or postal address. I am doing this to gather user feedback to determine if there is a need for a brand new product in the narrowing Macintosh antivirus market.
Tech-Talk
How exactly does WormGuard™ look for the AutoStart worm?
When any file is opened by any application, its content is scanned for the infectious code. If found, the file is unlocked and deleted (or moved to the trash) and you are notified of WormGuard™'s actions.
If a volume is mounted and the AutoStart information in the boot sector of the volume references a file, then that file's content is scanned for the infectious code.
WormGuard™ will not even attempt to look for "dormant" infections — and it was not designed to do so. It will, however, catch a dormant infection if and when it is activated.
Distribution
I hereby grant permission for anyone to distribute unaltered copies of this software as long as each copy is accompanied by this document.
Clarence Locke
clarence_locke@bellsouth.net
Revision History
1.0.1 - Released 1998-09-31
Bug Fixes
• Fixed a typo that reported the infection as "AutoStart 9806" instead of "AutoStart 9805".
• Now reporting the explicit strain of infection, mainly as a "piece-of-mind" enhancement.
• Now correctly handling installation on machines that do not support the sleep mode.
Known Problems
• File transfers are "ignored" when copying files to/from an 8.5 beta machine and an AppleShare IP server.
1.0 - Released 1998-08-28
• Initial public release with support for AutoStart 9805 strains A, B, C, D, E and F.