Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 6, 1992 TAG: 9203060412
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Tom Powell wanted to protect computers at his E.R. Albergotti produce brokerage in Roanoke. Tyrone Tyree of Rocky Mount said he just earned his graduate degree and his home computer holds a lot of information he doesn't want to lose.
"I'm from city of Salem schools," offered a woman who popped her disk into a ComputerLand machine, captured the software and escaped.
Michelangelo, the latest computer virus, has the capacity to wipe out data on the hard disks of IBM-type personal computers.
It's scheduled to strike today, the Renaissance artist's 517th birthday, which is how it got its name.
The public response to the giveaway of anti-virus software surprised the computer folks.
"You would think we had found a cure for AIDS," said Pam Moore, who was fielding calls that tied up the company's eight lines constantly.
The free software was a promotion from Symantec Corp.-Peter Norton Group. It was made available through dealers such as ComputerLand and information services such as Prodigy.
Viruses, which are rogue programs written by pranksters, can be spread by contaminated disks or over the phone from a computer "bulletin board." Michelangelo has even been found on new, unused software.
Discovered in Europe last year, Michelangelo has been found in the United States in businesses and government agencies. It also has appeared in the computer systems of at least five Japanese companies.
By Thursday, the virus had found its way to Western Virginia. It was suspected in a business office computer at the Roanoke Times & World-News. It was definitely identified in the home computer of a Virginia Tech professor and one personal computer at Dominion Bankshares Corp.
Search-and-destroy efforts were furious as computer owners rushed to protect their data.
Computer experts at the area's colleges feared they were especially vulnerable because students use computers extensively. They scurried to protect lab machines and to advise students how to have safe computing at home.
John Stuckey, director of computing at Washington and Lee University, said his school's several hundred computers had been cleared. Hollins College scanned its lab machines Monday and found them clean. At Virginia Tech and Radford University, the receptionists knew the computer virus by name. They've been hearing about it for weeks.
For one thing, there's been an awful lot of media hype, said Alan Williams, a programmer at Tech's computing center. And for another, there have been warnings posted in the mainframe and computer newsletters, telling users to beware.
"We're making an effort to be sure that people susceptible to this virus have been scanned, making sure that they're clean," said Ray Kirby, director of computer services at Radford University.
Both Radford and Tech obtained permits to copy anti-virus software for students, faculty and staff members who need it. Tech has given it out to over 600 people.
So far, Michelangelo has made only the one appearance on Tech's campus.
Fortunately for Tech and Radford, spring break begins after classes today, so some students already have left and others probably won't be turning on their computers.
If you don't turn on your computer today, you can avoid the virus - until next year.
Michelangelo has gotten tremendous publicity, but it's only one of hundreds of computer viruses suspected or identified. New ones are being found all the time.
There are two other viruses expected to cause problems this month, Jerusalem-B, which activates Friday the 13th, and Maltese Amoeba, expected March 15.
Vendors that regularly supply companies with software update the anti-viral software each time a new strain is found. PC owners who want a full dose of protection against all known viruses need an anti-virus software program. They sell for $88 and up.
Rick Pace, manager of Compuadd, said he could have sold a "truckload" Thursday if he had any.
Staff writers Madelyn Rosenberg, Mag Poff, George Kegley contributed to this story, as did the Associated Press.
ALSO OUT THERE\ OTHER COMPUTER VIRUSES\ \ Coming in March
\ Jerusalem-B: Activates on Friday the 13th. Will delete files executed on a Friday the 13th. Can cause enormous file growth due to multiple infections.
\ Maltese Amoeba (also known as Irish Virus): Will activate on March 15. Has same destructive capacity as the Michelangelo virus.
\ Common viruses
\ Stoned: Most common virus. Infects hard disk partition table and floppy diskette boot sector. Also blanks out your screen and prints, "I'm stoned." Said to be popular in student computer labs.
\ Disk Killer: Activates after 48 hours of computer usage time. Most destructive MS-DOS virus. Erases data on entire hard disk and destroys all data.
\ Frodo (4096): Activates on Sept. 22 and system hangs up. Memory resident virus uses stealth technique on cross-link files and may corrupt data files.
\ Ping-Pong (Italian-A): Infector of boot sectors, it activates on random basis, sending a "pong-like" white ball bouncing around the screen.
\ Joshi: Activates on Jan. 5. Stealth infector of floppy diskette boot sector and hard disk partition tables. Displays message asking user to type, "Happy Birthday Joshi."
\ Yankee Doodle: Memory-resident infector that plays "Yankee Doodle" at 5 p.m. and increases the infected program size.
\ Azusa: Mainly infects hard disk partition table and floppy diskette boot sectors.
\ Dark Avenger: Infects .COM, .EXE and .SYS files. After every 16th file has been infected, virus overwrites a ramdon sector of the hard disk destroying programs and data files in that sector.
by CNB