In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
<newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Wed, 23 Aug 2006 06:44:13 +0100
<2320943.zUVGqzbhOY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> __/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Wednesday 23 August 2006 01:00 \__
>
>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Jerry McBride
>> <mcbrides9@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote
>> on Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:29:11 -0400
>> <13dsr3xd0a.ln2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>> miroco wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:39:41 +0100, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> | Vista will continue to
>>>>> | wipe your master boot record on install. And so begins "The case
>>>>> | against installing Windows Vista (volume 658, 943)".
>>>>
>>>> Why are they such assholes?
>>>
>>> Because they think they can...
>>>
>>
>> FSVO "think" and "can". So far their attempts to increase security on
>> Windows have been somewhat less than stellar, though switching from the
>> DOS/9x platform to NT/2k/XP helped some.
>
> No more Pong? Or Brain? *grin*
I'm assuming you're referring to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping-Pong_virus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(c)Brain
I for one don't miss 'em. :-)
http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/brain.shtml
claims that Brain is "the oldest PC virus known, first
detected in January '86". It is also the first stealth
virus, as it does some interesting stuff with INT 13
to hide its presents from casual onlookers (including
DEBUG.EXE -- or was it DEBUG.COM?).
It's also quite quite dead, apparently -- and wasn't
all that harmful except for unintentional effects.
An interesting little beastie, and apparently put out
there for reasons similar to Sony's distribution of its
rootkit -- protection of software from piracy (in this
case, Pakistani medical software).
Wow, *my* brain hurts. :-) Talk about good intentions
going totally awry. At least the two Pakistani brothers
can claim they couldn't have known.
Interestingly, the Morris worm apparently was created
in 1988 -- two years after Brain.
For its part Ping Pong doesn't look malicious either
(except for unintentional damage because of the "MOV
CS,AX" not working on 286 machines), just infectious,
stealthy, and rather silly.
But we all know that they can mutate, and their bigger
brethren can do just about anything: hide files, delete
files, display strange stuff on screen, maybe blarrt the
speaker at 3 in the morning, etc.
And rebooting a machine is always disruptive. One would
think Microsoft would have learned this by now... :-)
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Windows Vista. Because it's time to refresh your hardware. Trust us.
|
|
