ONTRACK PROTECTS USERS FROM MICHELANGELO COMPUTER VIRUS; DISTRIBUTES FREE
MICHELANGELO PROTECTION KIT OVER WORLD-WIDE WEB AND MAJOR ON-LINE
SERVICES

Michelangelo virus to activate on Wednesday, March 6

Minneapolis, MN (February 19, 1996) -- Ontrack Data Recovery, the world's
leading data recovery service, today announced the release of the
Michelangelo Preparedness Kit, a collection of helpful virus prevention
tools and recovery information designed to protect users' valuable
computer data from being damaged by the Michelangelo virus, which
activates each year on March 6. 

Included are an evaluation copy of a virus scanning and detection program
that will alert users to the presence of Michelangelo and more than 6,600
other viruses; virus prevention tips; a backgrounder on how Michelangelo
works; and recovery information for those users who are infected with the
virus. The kit, which begins shipping today via the World-Wide Web and
major on-line services, is available at no cost to end users, corporate
sites, resellers, VARs, integrators, and consultants. 

Ontrack created the Michelangelo Preparedness Kit in an attempt to help
customers avoid the devastating effects of the Michelangelo virus. Last
year, which was the First time in two years that Michelangelo struck on a
business day, Ontrack saw its average daily call volume surge nearly 400%,
as hundreds of Michelangelo victims called in, many in a state of shock.
Each victim shared a similar experience: when they turned on their
computers on March 6 they were unable to access their data. 

This year Michelangelo will also strike on a business day. Ontrack experts
predict that, due to the ever-increasing base of computer users,
Michelangelo will again infect a significant amount of computers. Richard
Hins, a Production Scheduler for VisionEase Polycarbonate, an eyeglass
manufacturer based in Minnesota, can attest to the indiscriminate way in
which Michelangelo strikes. "I came in on Monday morning, turned on my
computer, and it was dead," says Hins, a 1995 victim of the Michelangelo
virus. "My File Allocation Table was wiped out, and all I was getting was
gibberish. I sent (my hardware) to Ontrack that very same day." 

Ontrack brings data back to life

Despite a commonly held misconception that Michelangelo permanently
destroys all data on a hard drive, data recovery is often possible. The
experts at Ontrack have extensive experience in bringing damaged data back
to life. Following the first Michelangelo attack in 1992, Ontrack
engineers developed sophisticated tools and techniques that enable them to
recover up to 99% of the data from a Michelangelo-stricken drive. Because
data recovery success rates may vary due to a number of factors, people
who have been hit are encouraged to call Ontrack Data Recovery for a free
consultation. 

While Ontrack has recovered data for hundreds of Michelangelo victims,
Ontrack experts stress that prevention is still the simplest and most
effective method for maintaining data integrity. "While the Michelangelo
virus has the potential to destroy data, it can be easily prevented," says
Stuart Hanley, Ontrack Data Recovery Engineering Manager. "Users should
not panic at the thought of Michelangelo, but rather prepare for it in a
way which will ensure the security of their valuable data. The
Michelangelo Preparedness Kit gives users the ability to systematically
evaluate their virus risk and make the changes necessary to protect their
data." 

What is Michelangelo, and how does it infect and spread? 

Michelangelo is a boot sector virus that infects when users boot their
machines with a Michelangelo-infected diskette. Michelangelo is loaded
into memory and copies itself into the Master Boot Record of the user's
hard drive, moving the original boot sector - the "index" or "road map" of
the drive - to a new location. Each time the computer is turned on,
Michelangelo loads into memory, and the cycle is repeated, infecting any
diskette which is accessed. As these infected diskettes are shared among
users, the potential for the virus to multiply increases. 

What type of damage does Michelangelo do? 

After Michelangelo has infected a system, the virus checks the system's
date clock each time it boots. If the date is March 6, the virus
activates, overwriting the computer's file allocation data with its own
viral code, destroying 8.9 megabytes of data, including the File
Allocation Tables and directories, and rendering all data inaccessible. No
warning is given to users; they are simply unable to boot their machine
after the virus activates. 

Michelangelo - not the only virus to threaten computer data

Although Michelangelo is one of the most common computer viruses, it is not
the only one capable of corrupting or destroying computer data. Computer
viruses cause 7% of all data losses, according to an analysis of actual
recoveries performed in Ontrack's labs. (More detailed results of this
analysis can be seen in the chart below.) Even though not all viruses are
intentionally destructive, many accidentally result in data corruption. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Top Five Causes of Data Loss

     Cause                               % of all occurrences

  1. Hardware or system malfunction              44%
  2. Human error                                 32%
  3. Software program malfunction                14%
  4. Viruses                                      7%
  5. Natural disasters                            3%

       Top Five Most Commonly Destructive Computer Viruses
                  (in alphabetical order)

                       Anti-EXE
                       Jerusalem
                     Michelangelo
                        Monkey
                        Stoned

Source: Ontrack Data Recovery, 1995. The above data is based on the
analysis of actual data recoveries performed by Ontrack. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Preparedness Kit will be available for free download until March 6 from
all of Ontrack's on-line sites. The file name is MIC-SCAN.EXE and is
available in the following locations: 

   Internet: www.ontrack.com
   CompuServe: GO ONTRACK or GO DATARECOVERY
   Microsoft Network (MSN): GO ONTRACK
   Ontrack BBS: (612) 937-0860 

Ontrack Data Recovery specializes in recovering lost or corrupted data from
any hard drive or alternative storage device that has fallen victim to a
virus, natural disaster, user error, electro-magnetic failure, a disk
crash, or computer crime. Understanding that time is critical, Ontrack
offers 24-hour, weekend, on-site, and priority service to help users avoid
the expense of an added downtime. Ontrack is headquartered at 6321 Bury
Drive, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55346, and can be reached by phone at
800-752-1333 or 612-937-1107. In addition to its Minneapolis location,
Ontrack also operates data recovery labs in Los Angeles, California;
Washington, D.C.; Japan; and the United Kingdom. 
 
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