Hi STEPHEN SHOESMITH, hope you are having a nice day
17-Dec-97 20:22:00, STEPHEN SHOESMITH wrote to ERIC ADAMS
          Subject: Virii (I think)
 SS> Does he collect the source code along with them or just the virii
 SS> themselves in executable form?  Many (including myself) that are
 SS> into programming cannot help but be interested in some way in the
 SS> source code of these little "bundles of terror".
Both =)  I now have the disk he saved all of it on... ...Assembly code
isn't very easy to write in, and I highly doubt he knows it.  There are
more executables on the disk than there are source code files.
 SS> I have collected alot of virus source code over the years but
 SS> never store the compiled version anywhere on any system I care
 SS> about .  My main interest is in polymorphic virii as, IMO, they
 SS> are the most interesting to watch over time (provided they are
 SS> coded well).
Hrmm.... ...I'm not very educated in computer virii.  Polymorphic as in the
virus changes over time?
 SS> I've let some polymorphic virii run on my old 286 for weeks at a
 SS> time to see how randomly it can change itself or how many unique
 SS> ways it can come up with to duplicate itself and be
 SS> non-detectable.
Hehehe... ...Is that like generating a random number somewhere in the code
when it reproduces?  I just got a new 286 >=)
 SS> As long as your friend is not actively distributing or embedding
 SS> these virii in other software given or uploaded anywhere then I
 SS> would just chalk it up to a curious interest, especially seeing as
 SS> he is in CS.
CS?  Don't understand =)
Have you ever LOOKED for virii?  If you try on the 'net (for example IRC)
you can get hundreds of virii at your fingertips =)
Do you believe in "good virii?"  There is an ongoing battle among virii
enthusiasts (I know, bad phrasing) if it's possible to make a good virus...
...I do believe so, as a virus HAS been made that searched for and destroys
copies of the Ghost virus.  Maybe McAfee is gonna make a virus like that
some day... ...the 1MB file-infecting wonder that whenever an executable is
run scans your system involunarily =)
 -=> Yours sincerely, Silvakow <=-
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