VIRUS-L Digest Tuesday, 6 Dec 1988 Volume 1 : Issue 34
Today's Topics:
Morris' Criminality
Re: Low-level hard disk format (PC)
CHRISTMA EXEC [IBM VM/CMS] has reappeared!
Virus Eradication Bill
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Date: 5 December 1988, 15:08:38 CDT
From: Nicholas Geovanis 312-996-0590 UWC6NTG at UICVMC
Subject: Morris' Criminality
Si Morris' actions and other criminal or
semi-criminal activities, but all have missed an important point.
Regardless of the exact state of the law, if a law enforcement officer
witnesses a person disturbing the public's peace in any manner, that
officer may detain that person, and that person may be prosecuted and
punished in any manner that is not inconsistent with the law.
There is little disagreement that Morris disturbed the "public
peace,". although there are varying estimates of precisely how big
the disturbance was. So far, he has not been reprimanded in the least.
But if the guys down the block want to have some beers and whoop-it-up
around 3 am., maybe play football in the park, the chances are good
that they'll spend an evening in the lockup, since drinking in public
is illegal, even though it's a victimless crime in itself, and since
the park closes officially at 11 pm. It's even more likely that a
teenager who steals $40 from a person who can afford the los he may even be idolized
rather than prosecuted. Do you get the point? There's yet another
massive double standard at work here. If you steal another person's.
money (in the form of time or goods, and regardless of whether or not
you use it for your own benefit), whether or not you're punished
depends on how sophisticated your thievery was. If you're clever like
Morris, you may get away with it. If you aren't, and your tool is a
knife instead of a terminal, hope that you don't get caught.
Nick Geovanis, UWC6NTG at UICVMC
Sysprog
U of Ill Admin Comp Ctr
Chicago, Ill
[Ed. Nick, you sent this file to me as (presumably) an IBM SENDFILE
from some IBM mainframe. ASCII machines (like the one that I'm on)
don't deal with these well; they turn end-of-lines into { brackets,
etc. It takes me quite a bit of work to convert everything back into
a readable format (anyone know if there's a GNU EMACS function to do
this?), and I won't always have the time to do that (read: anyone
sending mail in SENDFILE format (is that the correct term?) shouldn't
be surprised if their messages don't make it into the digest). Please
send mail as "normal" mail that the ASCII world can read properly.
Thanks.
While I'm on the subject of appropriate submission formats, I'd like
to ask people to *please* include an appropriate SUBJECT line. A
subject of "Re: VIRUS-L Digest V#1 I#27" is *not* an appropriate
subject. I realize that the recent digesting of VIRUS-L is the cause
of this, but we still need decent subjects. Here, too, I may not
always have the time to make up a subject for the person sending the
message in... I'd appreciate everyone's help on this.
Ken]
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Date: Mon, 05 Dec 88 20:45:37 ECT
From: Ken Hoover <
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Low-level hard disk format (PC)
A Low-level format/restructuring of the disk is a lot closer than
you may think.
To activate the low-level formatter that resides in your hard disk
controller (this is for Western Digital controllers), get into DEBUG,
and type
g=C800:5
This will invoke the low-level formatter, and just follow the
prompts. There are also commercial programs (ONTRAX comes to mind)
that are designed to accomodate different disk drives.
Remember to map the hard error locations onto the disk when you are
prompted to. This is VERY important (I know, the company I got my PC
from forgot to do this, and I spent three months fighing disk errors
until I found out what was really wrong). There should be a list of
hard errors attached to your drive (usually a sticker on top of the
case), or they may be on a separate sheet which came with the unit.
Don't EVER do this unless it's the ONLY solution (try everything
else first) because this is a LAST RESORT. This is the hard disk
equivilant of atomic warfare against errors/viruses.
Good luck!
- Kenneth J. Hoover
UG Consulant
T.J. Watson School of Engineering
SUNY Binghamton
Binghamton, NY, USA.
BG1838@BINGVMA
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Date: Mon, 5 Dec 88 22:24 EST
From: Jim Shaffer <
[email protected]>
Subject: CHRISTMA EXEC [IBM VM/CMS] has reappeared!
This turned up on, of all places, GAMES-L, and while our VAX is immune
to it, I witnessed what it did to BITNet last year and don't wish to
see it again.
This "virus", for those of you not familiar with it, is a program that
purports to draw a Christmas card on your screen. It does just that,
but also searches your account for names and addresses and mails
itself to all found. It is written in REXX, an easily human-readable
language, and thus is only run (theoretically) by very stupid users.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lot of those around last year.
Maybe it was final exams draining people's brainpower :-)
If I remember rightly, someone eventually circulated an altered
version that also erased your disk for you. Or maybe that was the
original, and it was altered not to erase later. In any event, the
effects on BITNet are disastrous if, for some reason, lots of people
run it without looking at it.
- --Jim
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
To all those getting this note:
The Christmas Exec virus has been released on the BitNet system once
again!
This sneaky program has been spotted here at the Univ of Arkansas
several times. If you have seen this elusive program, please delete it
from your reader before execution. It has been the major cause of
BitNet problems{ in the past.
Just a warning (flame me, and I swear...)
Dave Boddie
*************************************************************************
David Boddie | "If you hear thunder, don't worry, the light-
Remote4 Operator |ning hit somethin else!"
Computing Services | "M00seMan...With the propotionate strength,
University of Arkansas |intelligence, and wisdom of a M00se. Bl00p...
Fayetteville, Arkansas |there he goooeeesss!"
(501)575-2908 |
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Date: Tue, 06 Dec 88 01:50:09 EST
From: Steve <XRAYSROK@SBCCVM>
Subject: Virus Eradication Bill
First, I think it would have been useful to have had a copy of the
bill which was being amended so that we could have the complete
picture. Second, I think some definitions might be in order. What
does the word 'insert' imply? Do I have to have an ordinary program
to start with before I can 'insert' something into it, or can I write
my own malicious program from scratch and then name it something
familiar like 'Startrek' or 'WordStar' (and still be subject to this
law)? Did the Internet Worm Program insert code into another program
(I'm wondering if this amendment is somehow supposed to be a reaction
to the Worm)? I don't think it did, unless you want to count the act
of running a program as inserting commands into a program (the
operating system). (Or maybe we should count the use of a program
like the editor, presumably used to write the malicious code; that's
not what the bill intends, but it's stated ratherly vaguely). I do
like the qualifier 'malicious' because I think intent is important,
but although the bill uses the word 'malicious' in its title, it
actually says nothing about the actual intent of the harmful-code
writer. I like it that the bill protects those who unknowingly spread
a virus. On the other hand, the amendment makes it sound as though
somebody can *knowingly* spread a virus, but if they didn't write it,
they're safe from prosecution.
Steven C. Woronick
Physics Dept.
SUNY at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11790-3800
Disclaimer: These opinions are solely my own.
Acknowledge-To: <XRAYSROK@SBCCVM>
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