seborg@umbc3.umbc.edu (Mr. Brian Seborg) (12/02/89)
[Ed. In addition to this story, Mr. Seborg submitted a detailed
description of the Brain virus and his University's encounter with it.
Due to the article's length, I'm sending it out to the
VIRUS-L/comp.virus documentation archive sites rather than including
it here in a digest. Thanks for the articles Brian.]
Inside a Virus Fighter's Head
copyright 1989
Brian H. Seborg
Now is the winter of my discontent. It has been cold all day, and
a looming specter of destruction dampened my spirits. Would it strike
again? No one knew whether we were safe in our sheltered system, or
whether we would be wrenched from our tranquility into the
gut-wrenching realization that we had to fight, had to protect
ourselves against the menace that had destroyed so many others who
were caught unprepared.
I looked intently at my screen making sure to note every nuance of my
environment. The flicker of a drive light sent me into a protective
mode of questioning, "should that have happened?", "was that
legitimate?", "has that happened before?" The whirring of drives
spinning quietly in place made my body tense, expecting the worst,
hoping that it wouldn't happen, at least not today, not now. I hadn't
had a chance to back-up many of the bytes which could be forever lost
if today happened to be the day. God, how I hated those vermin who
had let loose these horrors that destroyed at random the hopes and
thoughts of the innocent. But they had not gotten to me. No, for I
was not innocent. Though I had jumped into the breach, I had been
ready. I am ready.
Though I despise them, I am also indebted to them. Not for the
destruction they have caused, but for the skill I have been forced to
master in order to fight them. Not because they were skilled, but
because I am more so. They will not wound me easily, and I will not
be easily dispatched. I have been victorious in countless battles
which are now but ghosts in my memory. Only once have I been close to
defeat, but, in the end I prevailed. My mind saved me when my
defenses had failed. Not so the Taiwanese. He had not been so lucky.
He had appeared with his work maimed and crippled. Most of it beyond
recognition. But he was brave, and we fought together. Fought until
we had rooted out and killed the disease which had caused his loss.
Or so we had thought. One had survived, and lived on in our systems.
Somehow it had gotten through our defenses, though we thought them
impenetrable. But it was not as smart as I. Not quite. I found it.
Found it minutes before it would have destroyed my system leaving my
disk to thrash in agony as my dreams and thoughts evaporated in front
of my eyes. But it was not to be. Not on this particular day. It
reared its ugly head, and I chopped it off at the neck. I have
preserved its offspring in captivity so that I may learn from them.
But they no longer hold any power over me.
Still, I must watch. Watch and wait for the next time, for there will
be a next time. So I stare at my screen spellbound, and listen
intently to the whirring of the drives, their flickering lights
pulsing in the half-light of my office. I am ready. To the vermin
and their creations I mentally extend the challenge: Go for it!