Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!husc6!uwvax!dogie!uwmcsd1!lakesys!jason
From: jason@lakesys.UUCP (Jason)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Repost from BITNET -- the SCA Virus
Summary: Sure a virus could get going....
Message-ID: <707@lakesys.UUCP>
Date: 28 May 88 02:08:26 GMT
References: <8805271638.AA14839@jade.berkeley.edu>
Organization: Lake Systems, Milwaukee Wisconsin
Lines: 37

In article <8805271638.AA14839@jade.berkeley.edu>, TLIMONCE@DREW.BITNET writes:
> This message was recently on Bitnet's Info-Amiga discussion:
> 
>> D.W.: But how came the quick distribution of the program? Didn't
>> you have scruple?
>> 
>> SCA: The first few copies I gave a good friend of mine: this
>> was only thought of as a gag, as he was one of the biggest
>> skeptics about computer viruses. I never had the intention to
>> cause trouble for anyone with it. Some time later, I called my
>> friend and told him, how to deinstall the virus, but it was too
>> late. Already after a month, the first copies in the usa showed
[...]
> 
> [  Any comments about that interview?  Does it sound real to anyone?  I
> don't know if anyone could make a virus that wouldn't spread "too fast".
[...]
> A     //            Tom Limoncelli -- TLimonce@Drew.Bitnet              \

	Sure a virus could get started on a large scale if it was done "well"
enough. If I were him and had decided to write a virus as a gag and give it
to a friend, I would've made it so that 1) After a certain time, the virus
would commit suicide by itself, saying "Hah, I told you I could infect your
system" and 2) Limiting the number of copies the virus could make of itself,
like "When the virus copies itself, decrease the number of 'children' it can
produce in itself as well as in any copy it makes, so that after awhile, it
wouldn't be able to reproduce itself" - termination by suicide after that.

	Something like: When virus loads, decrement suicide count on disk and
in loaded copy. If 0, do suicide routine, else stay resident. When resident,
write out a copy with the decremented suicide count.

	Besides what I mentioned above, I don't see how the author could
justify distribution AT ALL... (Aside from the questionable ethics of it).

	Jason
"Not your average iconoclast"