ksp8305@ultb.isc.rit.edu (K.S. Palmer ) (10/19/90)
Hi. I'm posting this for a friend, Steve. He has a Commodore +4 that he uses for his business but he's been having problems with what appears to be a virus. Steve's problem started with a simple error message when he used one of the utilities. He know tells me that part of the machine language code has been erased. One of the other utilities is now giving him errors also. I have a Commodore 64 that I use a lot and I would like to avoid my friend's problems. Is there an anti-viral program that I could get to get rid of it? Where would I find such software? How much does commercial anti-viral software cost? Any information would be most helpful. Thanx in advance, Karyn Palmer - -- Karyn Palmer KSP8305@ritvax.isc.rit.edu KSP8305@ultb.isc.rit.edu WARNING: Excessive study can cause severe dain bramage.
HAG2@vms.cis.pitt.edu (10/27/90)
I really doubt that there is a virus on your friend's Commodore 64.
There just simply isn't any place for it to go, since it doesn't have
battery backup and doesn't load in any files from disk everytime it's
used. However, I suppose it's possible for there to be a virus out
for the GEOS operating system on the 64, and probably remotely
possible that there is a virus that is designed for a specific
application, and he got the virus and useed the application in the
same session. But since it was on two utilities, I'd guess it's a
hardware problem...
-Herschel Gelman
hag2@vm2.cis.pitt.edu
hag2@pittsvms.bitnetachilles@alphalpha.com (David Holland) (10/31/90)
> I really doubt there is a virus on your friend's Commodore 64. > There just simply isn't any place for it to go, since it doesn't have > battery backup and doesn't load in any files from disk everytime it's > used. [...] What about the disk drive? Remember, the disk drive in a C64 is an autonomous, programmable unit that could easily hide a virus. Such a thing could spread to every executable program without much trouble, unfortunately. Worse, the 64's disk drives are so slow that people might not notice the extra delay... :^) David A. Holland Internet: pro-angmar!achilles@alphalpha.com | There is no great aeneas@blade.mind.org (slower) | talent without a Citadel: blade!aeneas@{undermind, overmind} | mixture of madness. Fidonet: David Holland @ 1:322/337 (not preferred) | -Seneca
achilles@alphalpha.com (David Holland) (11/08/90)
> In Digest V3 #177 someone mentioned that a virus could hide in the disk > drive since it has RAM, ROM, etc... However, the RAM is cleared when the > unit is turned off. Therefore, any virus would have to somehow store > itself in the drive whenever the computer is used, which can't be done. Uh... not meaning to tell anyone how to write one, but there are drive commands that will do just that: store something in the drive's memory. It isn't particularly more difficult than loading a virus into the computer's main memory, in fact. A program with the virus would have to be executed before the virus could become active, but that's nothing new... :( The RAM in my PC clone is cleared when the computer is turned off, but that doesn't make it virus-proof either. It's maybe a good thing that the documentation for the C64's disk drive was so lousy. > However, as I mentioned before, someone running the GEOS operating system > could probably get a GEOS-specific virus. No kidding... if you've ever looked at any of the programming information for GEOS, you'll see it's full of holes. > Besides, given the abundancy of Commodore hackers, I'd assume that if a > virus was possible, it would have been written by now. I suspect the base of C64s in active use is too small at this point to support a virus. So it's rather a dead issue... - ---------- On a somewhat separate note, could someone e-mail me the phone number for McAfee's BBS? I can't seem to find it, and I don't have access to the archives. [Ed. The HomeBase bboard can be reached at 408-988-4004] Thanks. David A. Holland Internet: pro-angmar!achilles@alphalpha.com | There is no great aeneas@blade.mind.org (slower) | talent without a Citadel: blade!aeneas@{undermind, overmind} | mixture of madness. Fidonet: David Holland @ 1:322/337 (not preferred) | -Seneca