---------------------------------------------------------------- | THE GUARDIAN LIST | | | | -- An Abbreviated Trojan Alert List | | to be used as a BULLETIN on BBS's | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | Issue #01: November 12, 1989| | By Tom Sirianni, | | and Those Sysops of FidoNet & LCRNET Revision Stage `C'| ---------------------------------------------------------------- NAME CATEGORY NOTES -------------- -------- --------------------------------------- 3X3SHR *TROJAN Time Bomb type trojan wipes the [Hard] Drive clean. File size is 78,848. ANTI-PCB *TROJAN The story behind this trojan horse is sickening. Apparently one RBBS-PC sysop and one PC-BOARD sysop started feuding about which BBS system was better, and in the end the PC-BOARD sysop wrote a trojan and uploaded it to the rbbs SysOp under ANTI-PCB.COM. Of course the RBBS-PC SysOp ran it, and that led to quite a few accusations and a big mess in general. Let's grow up! Every SysOp has the right to run the type of BBS they please, and the fact that a SysOp actually wrote a trojan ntended for another sysop simply blows my mind. ARC2ZIP.EXE VIRUS This Lehigh Virus strain that attacks the COMMAND.COM and is used in converting ARCed files to ZIPed files. This file also copies itself into the ZIPed file while remaining a TSR within COMMAND.COM. Also it is always looking for COMMAND.COM on a FLOPPY diskette, so it has two ways to infect. ARC513.EXE *TROJAN This hacked version of ARC appears normal, so beware! It will write over track 0 of your [hard] disk upon usage, destroying the disk. ARC514.COM *TROJAN This is very similar to ARC version 5.13 in that it will overwrite track 0 (FAT Table) of your [Hard] disk. Also, I have yet to see an .EXE version of this program. ARC533.EXE VIRUS This is a new Virus program designed to emulate Sea's ARC program. It infects OMMAND.COM. Lehigh Virus Type. BACKTALK *TROJAN This program used to be a good PD utility, but someone changed it to be trojan. Now this program will write/ destroy sectors on your [hard] disk drive. Use this with caution if you acquire it, because it's more than likely that you got a bad copy. B30012A.ARC *TROJAN Was supposed to be a Quick BBS utilty to handle 300 baud Users. But what it really does is delete many of the general directories used by a Quick BBS system. CDIR.COM *TROJAN This program is supposed to give you a color directory of files on your disk, but it in fact will scramble your disk's File Allocation Table (FAT). D-XREF60.COM TROJAN A Pascal Utility used for Cross- Referencing, written by the infamous Dorn Stickel. It eats the FAT and BOOT sector after a time period has been met and if the [Hard] Drive is more than half full. DANCERS.BAS *TROJAN This trojan shows some animated dancers in color, and then proceeds to wipe out your [hard] disk's FAT table. There is another perfectly good copy of DANCERS. BAS on BBS's around the country; appar- ently the idiot trojan author altered a legitimate program to do the dirty work. DISKSCAN.EXE TROJAN This was a PC-MAGAZINE program to scan a [hard] disk for bad sectors, but then a joker edited it to WRITE bad sectors Also look for this under other names such as SCANBAD.EXE and BADDISK.EXE. A good original copy is availble on SCP Business BBS. DMASTER *TROJAN This is yet another FAT scrambler. DOSKNOWS.EXE *TROJAN I'm still tracking this one down -- apparently someone wrote a FAT killer and renamed it DOSKNOWS.EXE, so it would be confused with the real, harmless DOSKNOWS system-status utility. All I know for sure is that the REAL DOSKNOWS.EXE is 5376 bytes long. If you see something called DOSKNOWS that isn't close to that size, sound the alarm. DOS-HELP TROJAN This trojan, when made memory-resident, is supposed to display a DOS command that the User needs help with. Works fine on a Diskette system, but on a [Hard] DRIVE system, it tries to format the [Hard] Disk with every access of DOS-HELP. DPROTECT *TROJAN Apparently someone tampered with the original, legitimate version of DPROTECT and turned it into a FAT eater. A good version is available on SCP Business BBS. DRAIN2 *TROJAN There really is a DRAIN program, but this revised program goes out does a Low Level Format while it is playing the funny program. DROID.EXE *TROJAN This trojan appears under the guise of a game. You are supposedly an architect who controls futuristic droids in search of relics. In fact, PC-Board sysops (if they run this program from C:\PCBOARD) will find that it copies C:\PCBOARD\ PCBOARD.DAT to C:\PCBOARD\HELP\HLPX. The .EXE file is 54,272 bytes. DRPTR.ARC TROJAN File found on two boards in the 343 Net. After running unsuspected file, the only things left in the Sysop's root directory were the subdirectories and two of the three DOS System files, along with a 0-byte file named WIPEOUT.YUK. The Sysop's COMMAND.COM was located in a different directory; the file date and CRC had not changed. DSZ (Patch) *CAREFUL The author of this protocol program, Chuck Forsberg, warns that anyone using an Unregistered version of DSZ that was HACKED with a downloaded PATCH to make it work fully, might get a SCRAMBLED FAT. Seems someone created the HACK PATCH and then uploaded it to BBS's. *BEWARE* of the PATCH! It is not the DSZ program that does the dirty work, but the invalid PATCH. EGABTR *TROJAN BEWARE! Description says something like "improve your EGA display," but when run, it deletes everything in sight and prints, "Arf! Arf! Got you!" EMMCACHE *CAREFUL This program is not exactly a trojan, but it (v. 1.0) may have the capability of destroying [Hard] disks by: A) Scrambling every file modified after running the program. B) Destroying boot sectors. This program has damaged at least two [Hard] disks; yet there is a base of happily registered users. Therefore, extreme caution is advised if you decide to use this program. FILER.EXE *TROJAN One SysOp complained a while ago that this program wiped out his 20 Megabyte [Hard] disk. I'm not so sure that he was correct and/or telling the truth any more. I have personally tested an excellent file manager also named FILER.EXE, and it worked perfectly. Also, many other SysOp's have written to tell me that they have like me used a FILER.EXE with no problems. If you get a program named FILER.EXE, it is probably alright, but better to test it first using some security measures. FILES.GBS CAREFUL When an OPUS BBS system is installed improperly, this file could spell disaster for the Sysop. It can let a user of any level into the system. Protect yourself. Best to have a sub-directory in each upload area called c:\upload\files.gbs (this is an example only). This would force Opus to rename a file upload of files.gbs and prevent its usage. FINANCE4.ARC *CAREFUL This program is not a verified trojan; there is simply a file going around BBS's warning that it may be a trojan. In any case, exercise extreme care with it. FLU4TXT.COM TROJAN Man, when I thought we had it licked! This Trojan was inserted into the FluShot4.ARC and uploaded to many BBS's. FluShot is a protector of your COMMAND.COM. The author of FluShot posted this Trojan warning, and I am posting it here in the GL. If you need a good copy, you can get it from here-- SCP Business BBS--or on COMPUSERVE. FOX2.ARC TROJAN The show program was put into the FOX (SHOW.COM) archive to display a porono on VGA. While doing so it corrupts the FAT of the HD. Even NU can not recover it. A FAT recover program like MIRROR has not yet been tested for it. Name Size Date Show.com 14562 06/02/85 FUTURE.BAS *TROJAN This "program" starts out with a very nice color picture (of what, I don't know) and then proceeds to tell you that you should be using your computer for better things than games and graphics. After making that point, it trashes your A: drive, and B:, C:, D: drives until it has erased all drives. It does not go after the FAT alone; it also erases all of your data. As far as I know, however, it erases only one sub-directory tree level deep, thus [Hard] disk users should only be seriously affected if they are in the "root" directory. I'm not sure about this one either, though. GATEWAY2 *TROJAN Someone tampered with version 2.0 of the CTTY monitor GATEWAY. What it does is ruin the FAT. If you need a good copy, you can file-request it or pick one up from 105/301--SCP Business BBS. GRABBER TROJAN This program is supposed to be a SCREEN CAPTURE program that copies the screen to a .COM to be run later from the DOS command line. As a TSR, it will also attempt to do a DISK WRITE to the [Hard] drive when you do not want it to. It will wipe whole Directories when doing a normal DOS command. One sysop who ran it lost all of his ROOT directory including his SYSTEM files. The file status is : Name Size Date Time GRABBER.COM 2583 05/28/87 22:10 GRASPRT.EXE VIRUS This file was in a porno file called SEXSHOE.LZH originating from PC-EXEC BBS. The Sysop took it off, but it had been downloaded by a few people. This is one of the Jerusalem-B Virus strains. The status is: Name Size Date Time GRASPRT.EXE 73376 06/03/86 09:49 G-MAN TROJAN Another FAT killer. HEART.EXE VIRUS Infected with the Israeli Virus. Displays the HEART logo on CGA monitor while infecting the HD. File is found on some SHAREWARE houses watch for it. Name Size Date HEART.EXE 13744 ????? JIV40.LZH VIRUS Hacked propgram of JIV - current real program is v3.3 NOT v4.0 - It is also infected by a Virus which attaches to any .COM file it can find. KC-PAL.COM TROJAN Infects the COMMAND.COM and then attaches to any .COM file afterward using the COMMAND.COM during its use of Internal commands (COPY, DIR, TYPE, etc.). The COMMAND.COM files are enlarged in size by 1538 bytes, and in the Time column of the directory, listing the seconds is reset from :00 to :62. LM TROJAN Deletes the COMMAND.COM and other files from the ROOT directory of the [Hard] Drive when the program runs. MAP TROJAN This is another trojan horse written by the infamous Dorn Stickel. Designed to display what TSR's are in memory and works on FAT and BOOT sectors. Also seems towork only when the [Hard] Drive is 50 percent full or more. MATHKIDS.ARC *TROJAN This is a fairly benign trojan that will not reformat your [Hard] disks or do any system-level damage. Instead, it is designed to crack a BBS system. It will attempt to copy the USER file on a BBS to a file innocently called FIXIT.ARC, which the originator can later call in and download. Believed to be designed for PCBoard BBS's. MOUSEKEY.COM VIRUS Mouse device program infected with the CASCADE type virus. NORTSHOT.ZIP TROJAN A supposed VIRUS checker - while NORTSTOP.ZIP listing the DIR during its check displays that the disk is Virus Free - but during Dec. 24th and Dec. 31st it will ERASE files in several DIR's based on their extension. NORTSHOT.ZIP and NORTSTOP.ZIP are same file. Name Size Date NORTSTOP.EXE 38907 ????? NOTROJ.COM *TROJAN This "program" is the most sophisti- cated trojan horse that I've seen to date. All outward appearances indicate that the program is a useful utility used to FIGHT other trojan horses. Actually, it is a time bomb that erases any [Hard] disk FAT IT can find and, at the same time, it warns: "another program is attempting a format, can't abort! After erasing the FAT(s), NOTROJ then proceeds to start a low level format. One extra thing to note: NOTROJ only damages FULL [Hard] drives; if a [Hard] disk is under 50 percent full, this program won't touch it! If you are interested in reading a thorough report on NOTROJ.COM, James H. Coombes has written an excellent text file on the matter named NOTROJ.TXT. If you have trouble finding it, you can get it from SCP Business BBS. PACKDIR *TROJAN This utility is supposed to "pack" (sort and optimize) the files on a [hard] disk, but apparently it scrambles FATs. PCW271xx.ARC *TROJAN A modified version of the popular PC-WRITE word processor (v. 2.71) has now scrambled at least 10 FAT tables that I know of. If you want to download version 2.71 of PC-WRITE, be very careful! The bogus version can be identified by its size; it uses 98,274 bytes whereas the good version uses 98,644. For reference, version 2.7 of PC-WRITE occupies 98,242 bytes. PKX35B35.ARC } *TROJAN This was supposed to be an update to PKB35B35.ARC } *VIRUS PKARC file compress utility. When it is run, it *EATS your FATS* and is said to to infect other files so it can spread. Possible VIRUS. PKPAK/PKUNPAK *CAREFUL There is a TAMPERED version of 3.61 v3.61 that interferes with PC's interrupts. PKFIX361.EXE *TROJAN Supposed patch to v3.61. What it really does when it is extracted from the .EXE file is do DIRECT access to the DRIVE CONTROLLER to perform a Low-Level format, thereby bypassing checking programs. PK362.EXE *CAREFUL This is a NON-RELEASED version and is suspected as being a *TROJAN*. Not verified. PK363.EXE *CAREFUL This is a NON-RELEASED version and is suspected as being a *TROJAN*. Not verified. PKZ100.EXE TROJAN Supposed to be a new release of PKZIP, but what it really does is fill up your [Hard] drive with many directories until the system no longer functions. The current version is PKZIP v.092. PKZ120.EXE TROJAN Modeifies the AREAS.BBS of BBS's that use such a file. Replaces addreses in that file with dummy addreses. then deletest itself to avoid any way to desipher how it works. Name Size Date PKZ120.EXE 172,000approx. 09/13/89 QUIKRBBS.COM *TROJAN This Trojan horse advertises that it will install a program to protect your RBBS but it does not. It goes and eats away at the FAT instead. QUIKREF *TROJAN This ARChive contains ARC513.COM. It is supposed to load RBBS-PC's message file into memory two times faster than normal. What it really does is copy the RBBS-PC.DEF into an ASCII file named HISCORES.DAT. RCKVIDEO *TROJAN This is another trojan that does what it's supposed to do, and then wipes out [Hard] disks. After showing some simple animation of a rock star ("Madonna," I think), the program will go to work on erasing every file it can lay it's hands on. After about a minute of this, it will create three ASCII files that say, "You are stupid to download a video about rock stars," or something of the like. SECRET.BAS *TROJAN BEWARE!! This may be posted with a note saying it doesn't seem to work, and would someone please try it; when you do, it formats your disks. SIDEWAYS.COM *TROJAN Be careful with this trojan; there is a perfectly legitimate version of SIDEWAYS.EXE circulating. Both the trojan and the good SIDEWAYS advertise that they can print sideways, but SIDEWAYS.COM will trash a [hard] disk's boot sector instead. The trojan .COM file is about 3 KB, whereas the legitimate .EXE file is about 30 KB large. STAR.EXE *TROJAN Beware RBBS-PC SysOps! This file puts some stars on the screen while copying RBBS-PC.DEF to another name that can be downloaded later! STRIPES.EXE *TROJAN Similar to STAR.EXE, this one draws an American flag (nice touch), while it's busy copying your RBBS-PC.DEF to another file (STRIPES.BQS) so the joker can log in later, download STRIPES.BQS, and steal all your passwords. Nice, huh? SUG.COM TROJAN This one is supposed to go out and unprotect copy protected programs disks by Softguard Systems, Inc. After it trashes your disk, it comes back and displays: "This destruction constitutes a prima facie evidence of your violation. If you attempt to challenge Softguard Systems Inc..., you will be vigorously counter-sued for copyright infringement and theft of services." AND it by-passes any attempt by CHK4BOMB to search for the any hidden messages that tell you, "YOU BEEN HAD... or GOTCHA>>> Ar..Ar..Ar... It encrypts the Gotcha message so no Trojan checker can scan for it. TIRED *TROJAN Another scramble-the-FAT trojan by Dorn W. Stickel. TOPDOS *TROJAN This is a simple high level [hard] disk formatter. TSRMAP *TROJAN This program does what it's supposed to do: give a map outlining the location (in RAM) of all TSR programs, but it also erases the boot sector of drive "C:". ULTIMATE.EXE TROJAN Another FAT eater. File status: Name Size ULTIMATE.EXE 3090 ULTIMATE.ARC 2432 UNIX VIRUS The UNIX operating system by Berkley, verson 4.3, is an INTERNET virus. A Patch is available on SCP Business BBS. This is the MAIL PACKET VIRUS. VDIR.COM *TROJAN This is a disk killer that Jerry Pournelle wrote about in BYTE Magazine. I have never seen it, although a responsible friend of mine has. VGA2CGA.ARC VIRUS CGA converter - infected with the AIDS/Hahaha - has been found on many USA West Coast BBS's. VU.EXE *VIRUS Infected with the 1704-B Virus. Has not been confirmed. And is unkown what the file is supposed to do. WOW *VIRUS Also known as the 1701 Virus. This is a new strain of the Lehigh Virus as it not only looks for COMMAND.COM, but any .COM file. As it does it, the infected file is enlarged 1,701 bytes in SIZE. The infection takes as you run the .COM. WOW is a TSR. What happens when you run WOW is that it displays an advertisement: ""The Wizards of Warez" in assocoation with the copycats the Pirates Unlimited OUTRUN WOW 1989 " The virus is also known as WOWTITLE. << END OF ABBREVIATED LIST>>