PARAMOUNT Virus

Alias:BYTE WARRIOR II Virus
Strain:BYTE WARRIOR Virus
detected when:March 1989
where:Elmshorn, FRG
Classification:system virus (bootblock), resident
Length:1. length on storage medium: 1024 byte 2. length in RAM : 1024 byte

Preconditions

Operating System(s):AMIGA-DOS
Version/Release:1.2/33.180
Computer model(s):AMIGA 500, AMIGA 1000, AMIGA 2000A, AMIGA 2000B
Caroname:ByteWarrior.Paramount

Attributes

Easy identification:typical text: bootblock: 'PSWC !!' 'PARAMOUNT SOFTWORKS CREW 1988 : Greetings to Napoleon , Obelisk, Idefix, Asterix Hamburg ' in memory: 'Virus detector by the mighty Byte Warrior!!! Please, please, please don't install this disk, coz I want to travel! Spread the bootblock and the word!'

Type of Infection:

self-identification method: --- system infection: RAM resident, reset resident, bootblock

Infection Technique:
Infection Trigger:reset (CONTROL + Left-AMIGA + Right-AMIGA) operation: any disk access
Storage Media affected:only floppy disks (3.5" and 5.25")
Interrupts hooked:---
Stealth:
Tunneling/Selfprot:
Oligo/Polymorphism:
Encoding Method:
Damage:permanent damage: overwriting bootblock transient damage: ColdCapture and CoolCapture vector are cleared
Damage Trigger:permanent damage: reset operation: any disk access transient damage: reset
Particularities:uses DoIOVector; other resident programs using the system resident list (KickTagPointer, KickMemPointer), ColdCapture or CoolCapture vector are shut down; checksum routine above capture vectors has been optimized (compared to BYTE WARRIOR virus code)
Similarities:BYTE WARRIOR virus, only 'PARAMOUNT...' text was written to free space at the end of the BYTE WARRIOR bootblock

Agents

Countermeasures:'CHECKVECTORS 2.2', 'GUARDIAN 1.2', 'VIRUSX 4.0'
Standard means:'CHECKVECTORS 2.2'

Acknowledgements

Location:Virus Test Center, University Hamburg, FRG
Classification by:Wolfram Schmidt
Documentation by:Alfred Manthey Rojas
Date:5-June-1990
Information Source:---

(c) 1996 Virus-Test-Center, University of Hamburg