Barb,
You are correct about the 3/6 date for Michelangelo to strike. :-}(
Here is some data about the virus.
If the computer is booted from the hard disk, or if the Master Boot Sector
is already infected, the virus checks the current date, assuming the
machine is equipped with a real-time clock. If the current date is the 6th
of March, the virus will systematically proceed to destroy all data on the
infected disk.
[It was a researcher (not the virus writer) who named the virus after
Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian Renaissance artist, on
the grounds that Michelangelo was born on the 6th March 1475. The
connection between the virus' trigger date and the anniversary of the birth
of the artist is tenuous in the extreme -- it is almost certain that the
virus writer had a different reason for selecting 6th March as a trigger
date.]
Jeff
At 09:52 PM 3/4/98 UT, you wrote:
>HEADS UP!! This is NOT a hoax! This is NOT an Internet chain mail
message -
>I've posted it ONLY here on the List for benefit of my fellow
>List-family.
>
>The "Michaelangelo" virus has been around for the past several years
>and ONLY strikes on the birthday of Michaelanglo - March 6 (I think that's
>it.... confirmation of the date would be welcome). If your system gets hit
>by the Michealangelo virus, your entire hard drive can be wiped out.
>
>Since this virus strikes on one day... the SAME day... each year, EVEN
>if your system has somehow been contaminated by the Michaelangelo
>virus, you CAN easily avoid being hit by it and not lose any data.
>
>To avoid possible system-wipeout by the Michaelangelo virus you options:
>
>1. Leave your computer OFF from a few minutes prior to the computer clock's
>changing at midnite to the new date on the 6th until the 7th (not
>such an easy thing to do if you're an email addict like me!) <grin>. IF
>your PC is off from the 5th thru the 7th, the virus can't be activated by
your
>booting up on the 6th.
>
>2. Do NOT turn your computer off AT ALL between March 5th and
>March 7th 'cause the virus cannot strike if you don't boot-up on the 6th.
>(Which is what I do each year as the 6th approaches)
>
>3. Make sure your virus program (you DO use a virus program regularly,
>don't ya? AND ya have it's most current up-to-date version installed on
>your system, right? RIGHT?) can eradicate the Michaelangelo virus and
>run it on the 6th (because the other 363 days of the year this nasty virus
>is inactive)
>
>Good luck on the 6th!
>
>Barb Mallut
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>
