Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!pyrnj!rutgers!mit-eddie!zermelo
From: zermelo@eddie.MIT.EDU (L Richard Duffy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Anyone infected by "Brain" virus?
Message-ID: <10111@eddie.MIT.EDU>
Date: 22 Sep 88 02:31:41 GMT
Reply-To: zermelo@eddie.MIT.EDU (L Richard Duffy)
Organization: MIT, EE/CS Computer Facilities, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 28


A friend just called me to relate a distressing story.  He was reading
the current (Sept. 19, I think) issue of _Time_, specifically an article
about a Pakistani company called Brain Computer Services, or something
similar.  This company has apparently planted some viruses in pirated
software which has wide circulation, apparently capable of wreaking
great data devastation.  Well, later that afternoon my friend noticed
that the volume label on one of his floppies at work had been somehow
changed to "(c) Brain", and he also found a message giving the phone
number in Pakistan for this company (which I gather will decontaminate
your software for a fee).

The friend asked me for advice; he and his colleagues have enormous
amounts of pirated stuff which they use with their extensive databases,
etc.  Obviously he's afraid that data might start evaporating or 
changing sometime soon, and wants any and all advice.  Since I've
never dealt with a virus myself, I thought I'd broadcast a general
request for such advice, especially if any of you have experienced 
this particular virus.  By the way, all the equipment he has is
IBM PCs and clones.

Please e-mail any useful information (rather than posting here).
Thanks a lot.
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