86 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
86 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
|||
|
|
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ŀ
|
|||
|
|
<20> THE VIRUS INFORMER <20> FACT: Did you know that there
|
|||
|
|
<20> your weekly virus newsletter <20> are over 586 Unique viruses
|
|||
|
|
<20> by Mark E. Bishop edited by <20> and over 1300 total viruses
|
|||
|
|
<20> Alan Bechtold <20> including strains?
|
|||
|
|
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CHAPTER 1: 'THIS WEEK'S VIRUS ALERT'
|
|||
|
|
(Dark Avenger in Disguise and biting hard!)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Thank you ...
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Thank you for waiting for this new version of THE VIRUS INFORMER. Some
|
|||
|
|
of you might know that my wife and I had our first child, a big boy, and
|
|||
|
|
I took time off from the newsletter to be with my new family member.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE DARK AVENGER is becoming quite popular these days among computer
|
|||
|
|
virus watchers and anti-virus programmers. What has made this virus, which
|
|||
|
|
interestingly enough is among the older computer viruses discovered way back
|
|||
|
|
in 1989, a BIG worry among those in the virus industry?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For starters, the Dark Avenger has recently evolved into what is commonly
|
|||
|
|
known today as the 'Dark Avenger Mutation Engine.' Similar as to what it
|
|||
|
|
sounds, this ENGINE is a new kind of computer virus and a threat, indeed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This MUTATING ENGINE can be used by virtually anyone to create a mutating
|
|||
|
|
virus, or what some call a polymorphic virus. Unfortunately to the good name
|
|||
|
|
of BBSes, this Engine, or program, was discovered and distributed via BBSes.
|
|||
|
|
Anyone can get their hands on it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In addition, this virus uses some fancy encryption procedures that make it
|
|||
|
|
very difficult to even detect. Believe it or not, and as this engine is
|
|||
|
|
readily available, conventional viruses are turning up at a rate of 10 to
|
|||
|
|
20 new viruses per week. According to Steve Gibson in a recent issue of
|
|||
|
|
INFOWORLD, "the sophistication of the Mutation Engine is amazing and even
|
|||
|
|
staggering."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HISTORY OF DARK AVENGER: Discoverd first in the U.S. in 1989 by UC Davis,
|
|||
|
|
the Dark Avenger had it origin seated back in Bulgaria. It has many alias
|
|||
|
|
names such as: Black Avenger, Boroda, Eddie, Diana, Rabid Avenger, VAN Soft,
|
|||
|
|
Dark Avenger 1801, Evil Men, PS!K0, and Dark Avenger-C.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Dark Avenger is not a Mr. Nice Guy in any sense of the word. It is a
|
|||
|
|
viscious and damaging computer virus. It infects quickly one's .COM and
|
|||
|
|
.EXE type files including overlay files and your Command.com file.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This virus even becomes memory resident and will install itself into
|
|||
|
|
your system memory becoming memory resident even after you turn your power
|
|||
|
|
off. And as you might already know, many of your DOS files have the etension
|
|||
|
|
of .EXE and .COM. So using your DOS COPY command or XCOPY would greatly
|
|||
|
|
spread this virus around quickly.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Once your file(s) is infected by the Dark Avenger virus, it will randomly
|
|||
|
|
overwrite a sector on your disk with a portion of this virus code poisoning
|
|||
|
|
your files. And if the randomly chosen sector is a portion of one of your
|
|||
|
|
programs, forget it! Programs and data files once infected by a sector
|
|||
|
|
being overwritten are permanently damaged and cannot be repaired since the
|
|||
|
|
original sector has now been lost.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOW TO KNOW YOU'VE GOT IT? Generally once infected many of your files
|
|||
|
|
will increase in size by lengths of an additional 1800 bytes. Also,
|
|||
|
|
messages such as, "The Dark Avenger, copyright 1988, 1989," as well as
|
|||
|
|
"This program was written in the city of Sofia. Eddie lives ... somewhere
|
|||
|
|
in Time!" Crazy!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If your computer and files do become infected with this virus, power
|
|||
|
|
off your system and then reboot with a CLEAN WRITE PROTECTED boot diskette,
|
|||
|
|
usually your original DOS disk as it's write protected. Following, care-
|
|||
|
|
fully use a disinfector like McAfee's CLEAN program. Make sure to re-scan
|
|||
|
|
all files again and floppies. Stick a big RED STICKER on those floppies
|
|||
|
|
that are clean and have been checked out okay.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
WANT TO KNOW IF ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE CAN ACTUALLY DETECT THIS VIRUS?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Read chapter 4 of this issue of THE VIRUS INFORMER for an informative
|
|||
|
|
look into this virus written by William S. McKiernan, Vice President of
|
|||
|
|
McAfee Associates--world leaders in antivirus protection.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
- end -
|
|||
|
|
Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253
|