Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!caen!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!cert.sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: pro-angmar!achilles@alphalpha.com (David Holland) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: re: Possible virus on Commodore Message-ID: <0010.9011081829.AA17940@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 8 Nov 90 03:35:51 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 41 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu > 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