Hafenstrasse Virus

Alias:
Strain:
detected when:22-October-1991
where:Hamburg, Germany
Classification:Program virus, non-resident, EXE-infector
Length:809 Bytes

Preconditions

Operating System(s):MS-DOS
Version/Release:2.xx upward
Computer model(s):IBM - PC, XT, AT and compatibles
Caroname:Hafenstrasse.809

Attributes

Easy identification:---

Type of Infection:

The virus infects only EXE files. The virus is not memory-resident.

Infection Technique:
Infection Trigger:The virus infects in direct action; when an in- fected program is run, virus tries 5 times to find a file to infect, but will only in- fect one file at a time.
Storage Media affected:
Interrupts hooked:---
Stealth:
Tunneling/Selfprot:
Oligo/Polymorphism:
Encoding Method:
Damage:The message "Hafenstrasse bleibt !" is written to a hidden file. The name of the file is composed of 4 randomly-chosen letters. Even though this seems to be fairly harmless, this will eventually fill the disk, or the capacity of the directory may be exceeded. Remark: the text "Hafenstrasse bleibt!" (=har- bour street remains) is a slogan which some inhabitants (belonging to an "alternative scene") of Hamburg's "harbour street" use to publicly withstand local government plans to replace their old houses by new ones.
Damage Trigger:A new file is created every time an infected file is run.
Particularities:The text is encrypted (only the text).
Similarities:

Agents

Countermeasures:---
Standard means:---

Acknowledgements

Location:Virus Test Center, University Hamburg, Germany
Classification by:Morton Swimmer
Documentation by:Morton Swimmer
Date:20-November-1991
Information Source:

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