MICHELANGELO'S BIRTHDAY NO HOLIDAY FOR COMPUTERS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 22, 1992                   TAG: 9202220311
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Medium
MICHELANGELO'S BIRTHDAY NO HOLIDAY FOR COMPUTERS
For 517 years, Michelangelo's birthday has passed largely without fanfare. But this March 6 is different.
A menacing computer virus named after the great Renaissance sculptor and painter is set to strike that day, and it could send millions of computer users around the world through the ceiling. The bug has already infected one well-known company, Leading Edge Products Inc.
"These viruses sort of fester over time, but this thing seemed to come to the forefront very quickly," said Craig Conrad, a spokesman for Leading Edge, based in Westboro, Mass.
As many as 5 million computers worldwide may be hit, including 500,000 in the United States, Case said.
Experts say the virus is especially sinister because it hides in a computer's memory, infecting every disk the machine uses. It is poised to overwrite the tainted disks with random characters.
"It really destroys your data," said David Greschler, exhibit developer at the Computer Museum in Boston. "It's like being a city without a map, and not knowing what's out there."
Experts say the virus surfaced about a year ago in Europe, though its exact origin - and the motive for the Michelangelo connection - are unknown.
There are ways to sidestep the virus, possibly by setting the computer's date past March 6. A more foolproof way is to buy protective software offered by several companies.
There are more than 1,000 variants of known computer viruses, including ones named Crackerjack, Red October and Armageddon.
Leading Edge traced its Michelangelo strain to equipment provided by a subcontractor for about 500 personal computers assembled at a Leading Edge plant in Compton, Calif. The company has debugged them.
Although publicity about the viruses alerts users to defend their systems, it also encourages hackers.
"The more news there is, the more it encourages these idiots to write these things," Greschler said. "They take pleasure in people being scared."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB