Software Quarterly

Common Viruses


Virus Name/Effect...

Cansu: Displays a V-shaped symbol on the screen every eighth time the infected computer is turned on.

Flame: Overwrites the master boot record of the hard disk with random data and displays a crude picture of flames on the display.

Form: Activated on the 18th of every month, it makes a clicking sound with each keystroke and has an obscene reference that is usually hidden.

Friday the 13th: On each Friday the 13th, infected files attempt to erase themselves when executed.

Green Caterpillar: Unleashes a little worm image that crawls around the screen, rearranging characters and changing their color.

Joshi: Once each January 5th Joshi freezes a PC until the phrase "Happy Birthday, Joshi" is typed on the keyboard.

Michelangelo: Wipes out most data on each March 6th, the artist's birthday.

Monkey-2: Hides in memory and infects every disk it contacts, making some unusable.

Ping Pong: Produces a bouncing dot on the screen after booting.

Stoned: Displays the words "Your PC is now Stoned" on the screen.

Tequila: Displays a low-resolution Mandelbrot set (a vaguely circular pattern of colors) on the monitor.


See also:
How Much is Enough?
Stealth Bomber: The Computer Virus Writer
A Virus By Any Other Name...
And Still More Viruses

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