Sender: Rare Books and Special Collections Forum <EXLIBRIS@RUTVM1.BITNET>
Now that the flu epidemic appears to have pretty much run
its course, there is now evidence of a new and even more
insidious bug that is afoot. I am speaking of a
particularly nasty computer virus called (appropriately
enough) "Slayer." It is also apparently known as "5120"
(for the fact that it will add 5120 bytes to any infected
file) or "Brainslayer." In any event, this virus manifested
itself on the library network here at Duke late yesterday.
Its intermediate symptoms are considerably slower system
performance and run time. It is known to infect executable
and .com files (but apparently not command.com) and will
corrupt program and overlay files and affect file linkage,
but supposedly not data files. It is also said that any
infected .exe file run after April 1992 will cause a system
halt and deliver an "ACCESS DENIED" message. Most known
ainti-viral programs are unable to detect and/or cure it.
The only one we know of that works for sure is the latest
version of Central Point's Anti-Virus. As with all computer
viruses, especially those appearing on networks, there is no
way to tell exactly how and when we became infected. We
have now installed a program on our network fileserver that
will inspect any pc that logs on for viral infection and
automatically log it out if any is detected, offering, it is
hoped, some prophylactic to its further spread. I hope this
information will save some of you the considerable trouble
that we experienced last night and this morning. Here's to
safe computing! [P.S. This is not the reason for the "Duke
Vortex" referred to elsewhere in these precincts; that is a
different problem.]
Steve Hensen
Special Collections Department
Duke University Library
Durham, NC 27706
919/684-3372 slh@mail.lib.duke.edu