-> 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.
        Granted assembly isn't easy to write in but if you want complete
control over what your program is going to act like (i.e. where its variables
are going to be stored in memory, direct access to hardware, etc) then 
assembly
is the way to go.  Speed of execution is also another benefit of a program
well-coded in assembly.
-> Hrmm.... ...I'm not very educated in computer virii.  Polymorphic as in 
he
-> virus changes over time?
        Correct.  Virii that are coded to either randomly change over time or
only appear to be randomly changing (i.e. the coder has already programmed 
ts
"random" behavior).  True random-action polymorphic virii are hard to make,
IMO, as in effect you're actually fringing on programming Artificial
Intelligence.
-> Hehehe... ...Is that like generating a random number somewhere in the code
-> when it reproduces?  I just got a new 286 >=)
        That is certainly one way, such as sending random values to a certain
DOS service number or hardware port.  More sophisticated virii are much more
complex because the programmer "informs" the program of all the commands it 
has
availiable and what their relationship to each other are (i.e. which ones can
be combined and in what way to produce a desired effect).
        This is why I say certain polymorphic virii approach an rudimentary
level of AI because now the virus much choose and combine from its set of
commands which would be best to execute now based on what the system (and 
user)
are currently doing.
-> 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 =)
        CS = Computer Science
-> Have you ever LOOKED for virii?  If you try on the 'net (for example IRC)
-> you can get hundreds of virii at your fingertips =)
        Well I've run a bbs for a number of years now (going on 5 or 6 years
now) and have had a virii file section on it for about as long and so have
collected several hundred virii and their source code over the years.
        The only time I will ever go looking for them is when I hear about a
certain virus that seems interesting that I would like to study.  But as far 
as
actively searching for them, I really don't have to because some of my users
upload ones they find interesting.
-> 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 
irus...
-> ...I do believe so, as a virus HAS been made that searched for and 
estroys
-> 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 
s
-> run scans your system involunarily =)
        Hmmm...well that's a hard question to answer.  I personally do not 
like
anything running on my system that I don't know about.  So in that light, 
there
could be no "good" virii.  On the other hand, "good" could be interpreted as 

virus that serves to entertain and does not cause any ill-effects (i.e.
crashing, formatting, re-writing, etc) or a virus that has positive
side-effects (such as the Ghost virus eliminator you mention above).
/---------------------------------------------------------------------------\
|Stephen E. Shoesmith -- AKA Lone Wierdo                                    |
|SysOp, MetroPlex Communications - Free Access To Information - 401.739.8118|
|Email: sysop@mtrplx.com or lone_wierdo@ids.net        Fidonet: 1:323/1212  |
|Send mail to sspublickey@mtrplx.com for my public PGP key.                 |
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