[comp.sys.mac] New "nFLU" virus, Disinfectant 1.2

jln@accuvax.nwu.edu (John Norstad) (08/05/89)

Another Macintosh virus named "nFLU" has been discovered at the
University of Minnesota.  This virus is identical to nVIR B, 
except for the name change.  

Disinfectant version 1.2 has been configured to recognize nFLU.  
We recommend that all Disinfectant users obtain a copy of this new version.

Version 1.2 has been submitted to CompuServe, AppleLink, comp.binaries.mac,
and info-mac.  It should be available from those sources soon, as well as
from many other bulletin boards, commercial online services, user groups, and
Internet archive sites.

The program is also available now via anonymous FTP from site acns.nwu.edu 
(129.105.49.1), in directory pub/disinfectant.

Macintosh users without access to electronic distribution channels 
may obtain a copy by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope and 
a floppy disk to the author at the address below.

Version 1.2 also contains a few other minor changes.  For a detailed
list of all the changes see the section titled "Version History"
in the online document.

Disinfectant is free.

Features:

- Detects and repairs files infected by Scores, nVIR A, nVIR B, Hpat,
  AIDS, MEV#, nFLU, INIT 29, ANTI, and MacMag.  These are all of the 
  currently known Macintosh viruses.
- Scans volumes (entire disks) in either virus check mode or virus
  repair mode.
- Option to scan a single folder or a single file.
- Option to "automatically" scan a sequence of floppies.
- Option to scan all mounted volumes.
- Can scan both MFS and HFS volumes.
- Dynamic display of the current folder name, file name, and a thermometer
  indicating the progress of a scan.
- All scans can be canceled at any time.
- Scans produce detailed reports in a scrolling field.  Reports can be
  saved as text files and printed with an editor or word processor.
- Carefully designed human interface that closely follows Apple's 
  guidelines.  All operations are initiated and controlled by 8 simple 
  standard push buttons.
- Uses an advanced detection and repair algorithm that can handle partial
  infections, multiple infections, and other anomalies.
- Careful error checking.  E.g., properly detects and reports damaged and
  busy files, out of memory conditions, disk full conditions on attempts
  to save files, insufficient privileges on server volumes, and so on.
- Works on any Mac with at least 512K of memory running System 3.2
  or later with HFS.
- Can be used on single floppy drive Macs with no floppy shuffling.
- Extensive online document describing Disinfectant, viruses in general,
  the Mac viruses in particular, recommendations for "safe" computing, 
  Vaccine, and other virus fighting tools.  We tried to include everything in 
  the document that the average Mac user needs to know about viruses.

John Norstad
Academic Computing and Network Services
Northwestern University
2129 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208

Bitnet:      jln@nuacc
Internet:    jln@acns.nwu.edu
AppleLink:   a0173
CompuServe:  76666,573

lbaum@bcsaic.UUCP (Larry Baum) (08/07/89)

In article <1002@accuvax.nwu.edu> jln@accuvax.nwu.edu (John Norstad) writes:
>Another Macintosh virus named "nFLU" has been discovered at the
>University of Minnesota.  This virus is identical to nVIR B, 
>except for the name change.  
>
I use VirusDetective.  What strings should I add to the search set to detect this
virus.

Thanks


-- 
Larry Baum
Advanced Technology Center              
Boeing Computer Services     uucp:       uw-beaver!bcsaic!lbaum
(206) 865-3232               internet:   lbaum@atc.boeing.com       

shulman@sdr.slb.com (Jeff Shulman) (08/15/89)

The search strings for nVIR (and all the other viruses) in VirusDetective 3.0.1
are resource type independent.  This means you do not have to change *anything*
to detect nFLU (and any future mutations of this kind).

Jeff Shulman
VirusDetective Author
Winner 1989 BCS Software Award

-- 
uucp:     ...rutgers!yale!slb-sdr!shulman
CSNet:    SHULMAN@SDR.SLB.COM
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