XPUM04@prime-a.central-services.umist.ac.uk (Anthony Appleyard) (05/16/91)
(from Daily Telegraph (UK national newspaper), Wed 15 May 1991) [University computer virus wipes out studies] The work of dozens of students and researchers at Oxford University has been destroyed by a computer virus. The virus was brought into the university on a contaminated floppy disk and unwittingly passed on from terminal to terminal. As a result, thousands of hours' work were lost, including several enties theses. The virus had been designed in Spain as a protest against telephone charges. Once fed into a computer's memory, it lay unnoticed, growing each time the machine was switched on. On the 400th occasion, it came to life, garbling everything stored in the computer and filled the screen with a message in Spanish saying "Lower tariffs, more service". Thames Valley police Fraud Squad are to link up with Spanish police to try to trace the culprits, although Det Sgt Gerald Causer said it was unlikely that any charges could be brought. "Students and researchers move from computer to computer within the university and unwittingly spread the virus. This is a particularly nasty one and the university is the first place in Britain where it has been discovered." he said. {A.Appleyard} (email: APPLEYARD@UK.AC.UMIST), Thu, 16 May 91 09:00:08 BST