Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!widener!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!cert.sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: Re: Can such a virus be written .... (PC) Message-ID: <0008.9106261903.AA01188@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 26 Jun 91 11:00:42 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 27 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu It seems I misunderstood a question which was posted here a while ago, so please disregard my earlier reply.... >vanaards@project4.computer-science.manchester.ac.uk (Steven van Aardt) writes: > Is it possible to write a PC virus which installs itself whenever >you place an infected disk in the drive and do a DIR command ? I wrote: >Not only possible - many such viruses already exist. They are either boot >sector infectors which intercept INT13 and infect a disk whenever it is read >from, or file infectors which intercept the FindFirst/FindNext functions - >the DIR and DIR-2 viruses are a prime example. But, as I said, this was a misunderstanding - I thought the original poster meant whether a resident virus could infect a diskette simply when the user issued a 'DIR' command. However, the question was whether a virus-infected diskette could infect the system, when the user issued a 'DIR' command. The answer to that question is a definite NO - on a PC, that is - but I am not sure if the same applies to the Amiga or the Mac - perhaps somebody else can clarify that. Sorry about any confusion caused by my earlier reply... - -frisk