Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!rutgers!ames!ptsfa!well!ewhac
From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: The REAL virus problem
Message-ID: <4909@well.UUCP>
Date: 4 Jan 88 21:46:26 GMT
References: <7967@g.ms.uky.edu>
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Distribution: na
Organization: Speak Before You Think Industries
Lines: 29

In article <7967@g.ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) writes:
>The designers at Commodore Amiga should have never made it possible to
>install a virus in such a way.  [ ... ]
>
>I suggest to the CATS people that a future version of kickstart specifically
>clear out the auto-boot vector or whatever it is you call that magic memory
>location that can give the machine to a program after warm boot and
>before workbench.
>
	This won't work.  I refer you to Bart Whitebook's (or was it Bob
Burns?) little hack called "Oreo".  This installs a new library using the
romtags-in-RAM facility, which is initialized at boot time.  The program's
function was to, at random intervals, pop up a system requester asking for a
cookie.

	C-A is not about to remove this feature, since it is how new
libraries are installed, and how old libraries are replaced.  In fact, this
is probably how many ROMmed users will receive many 1.2.1 and 1.3
enhancements; the libraries will be loaded into RAM, locked in, and
preserved across reboots.  An Amiguy may be able to provide more details.

	Incidentally, I've restricted distribution on this to North America.
No sense in giving anything away to whoever's listening....

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Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape	ihnp4!ptsfa -\
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	      dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac
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