Viruses

[Steve Hunt]

> >Can anyone confirm this assertation?  It has always been my understanding
> >that files have to be read to spread a virus.  We have our WinNT
> >workstations locked down so users can write to the A: drive, but cannot
> >open any files. Technically a save file dialog box has to read the
> >directory of a disk to display its contents.  But are there know viruses
> >that can spead from
> merely
> >a directory read?
> 
> At a prior position in a major university we have a virus problem at one
> point.  The virus in question (never did name it) infected the boot sector
> and the FAT.  So, if you read the directory of a floppy your machine was
> infected.  (Real fun cleaning that one up...)
> 
 
The alt.comp.virus FAQ lists this as a myth.
http://webworlds.co.uk/dharley/anti-virus/acvFAQ.2

I quote:

> * I can infect my system by running DIR on an infected disk
> 
> If you have a clean PC system, you can't contract a boot sector virus
> *or* a file virus just by listing the files on an infected floppy. Of
> course, if your PC is infected, you may well infect a *clean* floppy
> by using
> 
>         DIR A:
> 
> It *is* possible to have a scanner report a virus in memory after a
> DIR of a floppy with an infected boot sector. The distinction here is
> that the virus is not actually loaded into memory, so the PC has *not*
> been infected.



Steve Hunt
LA County Law Library