ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ VIRUS REPORT ³ ³ MacMag ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Synonyms: Peace virus. Date of Origin: February, 1988. Place of Origin: Montreal, Canada. Host Machine: Macintosh. MacMag may hold the record for the virus that achieved the greatest notoriety in the shortest period of time. Thousands of machines were infected in less than a month! A Macintosh virus, it was planted by Richard Brandow, publisher of MacMag, a Canadian Macintosh magazine. The message it displayed was "Richard Brandow, publisher of MacMag, and its entire staff would like to take the opportunity to convey their universal message of peace to all Macintosh users around the world." The "universal message of peace" flashed on the screens of thousands of Macintosh owners on March 2, 1988, did no other damage, then erased its own instructions. The author, Drew Davidson, "thought we'd release it and it would be kind of neat." This was probably the first virus to find its way into commercial software. Richard Brandow, a collaborator with Davidson and publisher of a Canadian computer magazine, distributed the virus with game software called "Mr. Potato Head" at a February, 1988 meeting of the Montreal Macintosh users group. Marc Canter, who was speaking at the meeting, worked for MacroMind Inc. of Chicago, a firm doing consulting work for Aldus. He brought the game home, tried it on his Mac, then began to review software to be shipped to Aldus. The virus infected the disk sent to Seattle, which was reproduced. About 3,000 to 5,000 copies of an infected Aldus Freehandteaching disk were made with a disk duplicating machine, then shipped to computer stores around the country. Aldus recalled all of the copies. MacMag can be ignored. If there is still a copy left, it will destroy itself after displaying its message. Nevertheless, it can be detected and killed with Disinfectant. ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º This document was adapted from the book "Computer Viruses", º º which is copyright and distributed by the National Computer º º Security Association. It contains information compiled from º º many sources. To the best of our knowledge, all information º º presented here is accurate. º º º º Please send any updates or corrections to the NCSA, Suite 309, º º 4401-A Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008. Or call our BBS º º and upload the information: (202) 364-1304. Or call us voice at º º (202) 364-8252. This version was produced May 22, 1990. º º º º The NCSA is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving º º computer security. Membership in the association is just $45 per º º year. Copies of the book "Computer Viruses", which provides º º detailed information on over 145 viruses, can be obtained from º º the NCSA. Member price: $44; non-member price: $55. º º º º The document is copyright (c) 1990 NCSA. º º º º This document may be distributed in any format, providing º º this message is not removed or altered. º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ  Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253