jln@accuvax.nwu.edu (John Norstad) (12/14/89)
The news about the WDEF virus could not be much worse. A new strain has been discovered at several locations. A cursory examination reveals that it beeps when it infects a new Desktop file, but is otherwise almost identical to the original. Disinfectant 1.4 will not catch this new strain. I hope to release yet another new version (1.5) tonight which will recognize this new strain and hopefully any other strains which might exist, although it is impossible for me or anybody else to make any guarantees. It appears that this new strain is a variant produced by the same miscreant who produced the original. More bad news: I've received so many reports of WDEF infections that I have stopped trying to keep track of all the sitings. It's all over the US, at least. More bad news: I received two reports of other problems caused by WDEF. It appears to cause 8 meg Macs to crash so often that they are unusable. It also is completely incompatible with the "Virtual" INIT from Connectrix. We don't know why yet - reports of problems with this virus are coming in faster than we can investigate them. I've never before let my emotions creep into my "official" postings to the public about viruses - I always thought they were largely irrelevant. But this time I must tell you that I'm angry, depressed, and overwhelmed. I have a request to make - please don't write to me right now unless it is very important. It's almost to the point where my mail is arriving faster than I can read it, much less think about it. I have work to do that isn't getting done because of it. John Norstad Northwestern University jln@acns.nwu.edu
jln@accuvax.nwu.edu (John Norstad) (12/14/89)
The news about the new WDEF virus could not be much worse. A new strain has appeared. A quick examination reveals that it beeps when it infects a new Desktop file, and some debugging symbols were removed, but otherwise it is identical to the original strain. It appears to have been created by the same miscreant who created the original version, and it may very well have existed just as long as the original version. Disinfectant 1.4 does NOT recognize the new strain. I will release yet another new version (1.5) tonight (I hope) that will deal with the new strain and hopefully any other strains which might exist. Of course, I can't guarantee that it will catch everything that might be out there. More bad news: We've had so many reports of WDEF infections that I've given up trying to keep track of all the sitings. It is all over the United States, at least. More bad news: We have reports of two more problems that WDEF can cause. It apparently causes 8 meg Macs to crash so frequently that they are unusable. It is also completely incompatible with the "Virtual" INIT from Connectrix. We don't have explanations for these problems yet - we're currently getting reports of WDEF problems faster than we can analyze them. I don't usually let my emotions creep into these public announcments about viruses, becasue I feel that they are irrelevant. But I must tell you that I'm angry, depressed, and overwhelmed. I have a request: Please don't write to me right now unless it is very important - hold off for a week or two. It's getting to the point where I'm getting mail faster than I can read it, much less think about it. I have important work to do that is not getting done because of it. John Norstad Northwestern University jln@acns.nwu.edu