"day brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2001 17:48:26 -0700, Bob George wrote:
> > Uh, if this is Stoned.Monkey, it goes back to '92 and is a DOS MBR
virus.
> > Nothing Windows-specific about it, and I suspect ANY DOS version would
be
> > vulnerable if not protected, Microsoft or not.
>
> Well, sure, but how does it get into the system in the first place?
> With windoz, you can have sabotage software inserted by email. I dont
> think you can do that with Arachne, or any of the other DOS tools.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, Windows is not required for boot-sector
viri to spread, nor is DOS immune.
> The worst DOS virus attack by far, was years ago, a Michaelangelo, and
> it was not downloaded off the net, but on the disk, in the shrinkwrap,
> at the computer store, with proprietary software. Turns out, that some
> contract hacker realized that the software house was going to screw him.
[...]
I would LOVE to see a reference for that. Everything I've ever heard is
consistent with references such as
http://www.vmyths.com/fas/fas_inc/inc1.cfm: "Michelangelo remained an
obscure threat until January of 1992, when a major U.S. computer
manufacturer announced it accidentally shipped 500 PCs carrying the virus.
[...] A few days later, another major company admitted it accidentally
distributed 900 floppy disks infected with Michelangelo. [... from a
Symantec statement] The most well-known computer virus in the world is
officially a non-threat. Worldwide, the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center
received only two confirmed reports of damage caused by the Michelangelo
virus this March 6th."
NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Windows, angry programmers striking back at
the Evil Empire or anything even remotely like that.
It's worth emphasizing that Windows is hardly alone in susceptability to
viruses. It's only the most common vector for the time being. DOS is not
invulnerable. Prudent measures are required regardless of the OS, though
some are certainly more capable of limiting the damage than others.
Knowledge will protect far better than rhetoric.
- Bob
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