[comp.virus] Anyone recognize this virus?

CVITEK@drew.bitnet (Bart Simpson) (10/23/90)

        REcently I heard of a virus that was being spread around Oak Ridge, TN.
From what I understand, it completely erases your hard drive and then reformats
it (pretty nasty!).  Does anyone know anything about this particular virus
(ie what it is called, where it originated, etc), or is this a rather common
virus effect and hard to pinpoint which virus causes it?

                        Thank you.
                                Chris "V" Vitek

RZOTTO@DKNKURZ1.BITNET (Otto.Stolz) (11/05/90)

> ... it completely erases your hard drive and then reformats it
> ... or is this a rather common virus effect

Indeed! It is most destructive and pretty easy to program, hence it
this sort of damage is one of the favourites of virus writers.

As examples, I've send you the following memo files
(most of them containing descriptions of several variants):
   DATACRIM PCMEMO   (both variants)
   DENZUG   PCMEMO   (cf. variant SYS-B)
   MERRITT  PCMEMO   (cf. ALAMEDA & GOLDEN GATE)
   VIENNA   PCMEMO   (several variants render arbitrary program
                     into low-level hard-disk formatter)
   12-TRICK PCMEMO

Try to identify the beast you are hosting according to the "easy
identification" sections in some of the descriptions, or use virus
scan programs (e.g. McAfee's SCAN, or Frisk's F-DISINF and F-FCHK from
the F-PROT package).

Good luck
          Otto Stolz