Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!sarrel
From: sarrel@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: new virus???
Message-ID: 
Date: 5 Dec 88 03:53:10 GMT
Sender: sarrel@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Distribution: comp
Organization: Ohio State Computer Science
Lines: 34

Well, here we go again, folks...

I think I may have found a new virus.  Interferon 3.1 did not detect
it, but some strange (if benign) things have been going on.  I first
suspected a problem when three of my floppy disks (which I hadn't look
at in a month or two) suddenly had new disk icons.  The new icons
resembled a "Hello, my name is ____" sticker.  I tried to reformat
them, but it didn't help.  Then, I decided to poke around a newly
formatted disk with resedit.  The only file that it showed on the disk
was the desktop file.  However, resedit wouldn't let me open the file.
It gave me error -49.  IM says that this is "The read/write permission
of only one access path to a file can allow writing", but I'm not sure
exactly what this means.

But it gets better.  If I do a Get Info on the dektop file (from
within resedit) it says that the Creator of the file is ERIK.  Does
this name sound familiar?  However, note the spelling.  I believe that
the SCORES related resources was ERIC.  Anyway, there is one more
piece of information.  If I try to do another erase disk, on one that
already has the new icon, when it asks if I want to erease the disk
named XXX, it adds the words "facade by Greg Marriot" to the name of
the disk in the dialog box (but not on the desktop).

Does anyone have an explanation for these occurences?  Is it really a
virus, or can the symptoms be explained in other ways.  I used virus
detective to check my hard disk, and the only file that seemed to be
infected with ERIK was the desktop.  Of course, it could be hiding
under a psuedonym.

Please don't accuse me of being alarmist.  The last thing I want to do
is start a flame war like we had not too long ago about the nVIR
virus.

--marc