dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (12/15/89)
I'm looking for a few people who would be willing to act as beta-test
users for a small INIT intended to identify and remove the WDEF virus
that's been making the rounds lately.
This INIT, known as Eradicat'Em, is derived from the Eradicator! INIT
that was posted about 10 days ago. I've taken the source-code for
Eradicator! 1.2 and rewritten most of the eradication code, in an attempt
to eliminate some of the acknowledged problems with Eradicator!.
Eradicat'Em is designed to scan the Desktop file each time it's opened,
and remove any "implied loader" viruses such as WDEF. It runs on
Mac Plus and SE systems, as well as on 68020- and 68030-based machines
in the Mac II family.
I've been alpha-testing Eradicat'Em for a couple of days now. It seems
to work well in most of the tests I've run. It probably has some bugs
remaining in it, and definitely needs a bit of polishing before it'll
be ready for a full distribution. I haven't seen any harmful results
from its use... and I've tried to be _very_ careful when coding it.
If you're interested in receiving a beta-test version of Eradicat'Em,
please drop me a note. The first N people who respond will get copies...
N being some number which depends on the state of my liver at the time.
For those of you who want a more solidly-tested anti-WDEF INIT... be
of good cheer. Chris Johnson will be releasing his "Gatekeeper Aid"
INIT very shortly... based on what I've seen of the beta-test versions,
it's up to Chris's usual high standards. Gatekeeper Aid is a very
thorough and aggressive detector of implied-loader viruses; it will
catch WDEF strains, clones, and similar viruses in the Desktop, and
it also bars the door against some other means by which viruses might
attempt to propagate.
Eradicat'Em is less aggressive than Gatekeeper Aid... it scans only
the Desktop file. It's also a bit smaller and a bit more matter-of-
fact when it finds the WDEF virus (it beeps, rather than putting up
a Notification Manager dialog box).
--
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