mark@Stargate.COM (Mark Horton) (10/10/89)
There are a pair of computer viruses ready to go on October 12 and 13 of this year. If you have an IBM or compatible PC, you may have a virus on your system. If your .COM or .EXE files have grown by 1000 or so bytes, they may be infected. One virus is known as the Jerusalem virus, and is set to go off on or after the next Friday the 13th. It can add itself to your executable files, slow down your system, and in some cases erase your hard disk. The other is the DATACRIME virus. It is not as common as the Jerusalem virus, but will immediately and without warning wipe out your disk. You are strongly urged to take a complete backup of your disks before the 12th. Since viruses often spread through public domain software, use of binary software that is not shrink wrapped should be avoided. There are commercial virus detection programs on the market. One is the ViruScan program from McAfee Associates, in California. It detects some 39 viruses (in the 9-28-89 version.) Their telephone number is 408-988-3832. Another source is Rikki Cate, in Amsterdam. The product, Cate's Cure, detects the DATACRIME virus. Cate's telephone is 31-20-981963 in the Netherlands.