VIRUS-L Digest Thursday, 24 Aug 1989 Volume 2 : Issue 180 VIRUS-L is a moderated, digested mail forum for discussing computer virus issues; comp.virus is a non-digested Usenet counterpart. Discussions are not limited to any one hardware/software platform - diversity is welcomed. Contributions should be relevant, concise, polite, etc., and sent to VIRUS-L@IBM1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (that's LEHIIBM1.BITNET for BITNET folks). Information on accessing anti-virus, document, and back-issue archives is distributed periodically on the list. Administrative mail (comments, suggestions, and so forth) should be sent to me at: krvw@SEI.CMU.EDU. - Ken van Wyk Today's Topics: Virus Naming Destructive virus... Locking Macintosh disks Re: Swap Virus Name (PC) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 89 10:39:00 -0400 From: "Jerry Leichter" Subject: Virus Naming Every new virus report these days seems to lead to a debate about a proper name for the beasts. May I suggest that this matter be settled, once and for all, by adopting long-established traditions used in a variety of sciences, ranging from astronomy to biology to medicine: The discoverer of, or the first person to describe, a planet/microbe/disease has an essentially absolute right to choose a name for it. A poorly-chosen name for something that gets discussed extensively will sometimes fall by the wayside, but that's the exception. The closest match from the traditional sciences is clearly with medicine. The person who gets to choose the name is the person who publishes the first article which describes the disease in some detail. The tone of such articles is quite similar to the tone of the recent analyses of viral code. While the discover can choose any name he likes, traditionally the names chosen reflect either some obvious and distinctive mark or symptom of the disease (AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), or the place where it was first noted (Lyme Disease). When the discoverer doesn't choose a name, the disease often gets named after him (Wernickie's Aphasia). Other fields of science have established their own traditions (names of Roman gods for planets; Latin descriptive terms for species - though this gets tempered by humor). Biological viruses have pretty arbitrary names: One large class, the Coxsackie viruses, are named after a town in upstate New York where the first member of the class was isolated; another, the Herpes viruses, I believe have a name derived from Greek via a particular disease caused by one of them. Others have names like "T4 phage". -- Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 11:20:48 -0400 From: (David Gursky) Subject: Destructive virus... Does anyone on the list have some information about an alleged virus that caused monitors on either older PCs, Ataris, or Amigas (I forgot which plat- form was susceptible) to self-destruct? We were discussing this nasty over lunch the other day and are interested in finding out more. David Gursky Member of the Technical Staff, W-143 Special Projects Department The MITRE Corporation ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 14:32:02 -0400 From: Daniel Carr Subject: Locking Macintosh disks i bet this question has been asked before, so please excuse me, but is it possible for a virus to infect a locked macintosh disk? thanks, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Daniel C. Carr <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>> North Carolina State University Computing Center <<<<<<< dcc@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu daniel@ncsuvm.BITNET d.c.carr, GEnie ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 10:06:12 -0400 From: dmg@retina.mitre.org (David Gursky) Subject: Re: Swap Virus Name (PC) In deference/support to Y. Radai, while it is important to try and be consisten t about the naming convention we use for viruses and so forth, it is not "life- threatening". As the "Swap" virus does not fit into the current naming convention well, and "Swap" is not a "libelous" name (as opposed to calling it the "Jim and Tammy Bakker" virus for example), then why *shouldn't* we call it the "Swap" virus. ------------------------------ End of VIRUS-L Digest ********************* Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253