McAfee > Theat Center > Virus Detail Page

Overview

This is a virus detection. Viruses are programs that self-replicate recursively, meaning that infected systems spread the virus to other systems, which then propagate the virus further. While many viruses contain a destructive payload, it's quite common for viruses to do nothing more than spread from one system to another.

Aliases

• Athens

Characteristics

Trojector-1463 is a memory resident, stealth, file infecting virus. It infects .COM and .EXE files, including COMMAND.COM.

Upon infection, this virus becomes memory resident at the top of system memory but below the 640K DOS boundary, though the memory is not reserved. If COMMAND.COM is infected at this time.

Once the Trojector virus is memory resident, it infects .COM and .EXE files as they are executed or opened.

It is not known if Trojector does anything besides replicate.

Additional Comments:
The Athens virus was discovered in Athens, Greece, in May, 1992. This virus is a memory resident stealth virus which infects .COM and .EXE programs, including COMMAND.COM. When the first program infected with the Athens virus is executed, this virus will install itself memory resident at the top of system memory but below the 640K DOS boundary, though the memory is not reserved. Total system and available free memory will not be altered. If COMMAND.COM was not previously infected, it will be infected at this time. No change in file length will be visible. Once the Athens virus is memory resident, it will infect .COM and .EXE programs when they are executed or opened for any reason. Infected programs will have a file length increase of 1,463 bytes, with the virus being located at the end of the infected file. The file length increase will be hidden by the virus when it is memory resident. The file's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing will not be altered. The following text string is encrypted within the viral code in infected programs: "TROJECTOR II,(c) Armagedon Utilities, Athens 1992" Systems infected with the Athens virus may experience general failure errors when attempting to execute programs on diskettes, requiring an Abort, Retry, Ignore, or Fail response. It is unknown if Athens does anything besides replicate.

Symptoms

The following text string is encrypted within the viral code in infected files:

"TROJECTOR II,(c) Armagedon Utilities, Athens 1992"

Systems infected with theTrojector virus may experience general failure errors when attempting to execute files on diskettes, requiring an Abort, Retry, Ignore, or Fail response.

Total system and available free memory are not altered. No change in file length will be visible in COMMAND.COM. Infected files have a file length increase of 1,463 bytes. The virus is located at the end of the infected file. The file length increase is hidden by the virus when it is memory resident (Stealth Techniques). The file's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing are not altered.

Method of Infection

The only way to infect a computer with a file infecting virus is to execute an infected file on the computer. The infected file may come from a multitude of sources including: floppy diskettes, downloads through an online service, network, etc. Once the infected file is executed, the virus may activate.

Removal

All Users :
Script,Batch,Macro and non memory-resident:
Use current engine and DAT files for detection and removal.

PE,Trojan,Internet Worm and memory resident :
Use specified engine and DAT files for detection. To remove, boot to MS-DOS mode or use a boot diskette and use the command line scanner:

Additional Windows ME/XP removal considerations

Users should not trust file icons, particularly when receiving files from others via P2P clients, IRC, email or other mediums where users can share files.

AVERT Recommended Updates :

* Office2000 Updates

* Malformed Word Document Could Enable Macro to Run Automatically (Information/Patch )

* scriptlet.typelib/Eyedog vulnerability patch

* Outlook as an email attachment security update

* Exchange 5.5 post SP3 Information Store Patch 5.5.2652.42 - this patch corrects detection issues with GroupShield

For a list of attachments blocked by the Outlook patch and a general FAQ, visit this link .
Additionally, Network Administrators can configure this update using an available tool - visit this link for more information .

It is very common for macro viruses to disable options within Office applications for example in Word, the macro protection warning commonly is disabled. After cleaning macro viruses, ensure that your previously set options are again enabled.

Variants

Variants

• Trojector.1561

All Information

Overview -

This is a virus detection. Viruses are programs that self-replicate recursively, meaning that infected systems spread the virus to other systems, which then propagate the virus further. While many viruses contain a destructive payload, it's quite common for viruses to do nothing more than spread from one system to another.

Aliases

• Athens

Characteristics

Characteristics -

Trojector-1463 is a memory resident, stealth, file infecting virus. It infects .COM and .EXE files, including COMMAND.COM.

Upon infection, this virus becomes memory resident at the top of system memory but below the 640K DOS boundary, though the memory is not reserved. If COMMAND.COM is infected at this time.

Once the Trojector virus is memory resident, it infects .COM and .EXE files as they are executed or opened.

It is not known if Trojector does anything besides replicate.

Additional Comments:
The Athens virus was discovered in Athens, Greece, in May, 1992. This virus is a memory resident stealth virus which infects .COM and .EXE programs, including COMMAND.COM. When the first program infected with the Athens virus is executed, this virus will install itself memory resident at the top of system memory but below the 640K DOS boundary, though the memory is not reserved. Total system and available free memory will not be altered. If COMMAND.COM was not previously infected, it will be infected at this time. No change in file length will be visible. Once the Athens virus is memory resident, it will infect .COM and .EXE programs when they are executed or opened for any reason. Infected programs will have a file length increase of 1,463 bytes, with the virus being located at the end of the infected file. The file length increase will be hidden by the virus when it is memory resident. The file's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing will not be altered. The following text string is encrypted within the viral code in infected programs: "TROJECTOR II,(c) Armagedon Utilities, Athens 1992" Systems infected with the Athens virus may experience general failure errors when attempting to execute programs on diskettes, requiring an Abort, Retry, Ignore, or Fail response. It is unknown if Athens does anything besides replicate.

Symptoms

Symptoms -

The following text string is encrypted within the viral code in infected files:

"TROJECTOR II,(c) Armagedon Utilities, Athens 1992"

Systems infected with theTrojector virus may experience general failure errors when attempting to execute files on diskettes, requiring an Abort, Retry, Ignore, or Fail response.

Total system and available free memory are not altered. No change in file length will be visible in COMMAND.COM. Infected files have a file length increase of 1,463 bytes. The virus is located at the end of the infected file. The file length increase is hidden by the virus when it is memory resident (Stealth Techniques). The file's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing are not altered.

Method of Infection

Method of Infection -

The only way to infect a computer with a file infecting virus is to execute an infected file on the computer. The infected file may come from a multitude of sources including: floppy diskettes, downloads through an online service, network, etc. Once the infected file is executed, the virus may activate.

Removal -

Removal -

All Users :
Script,Batch,Macro and non memory-resident:
Use current engine and DAT files for detection and removal.

PE,Trojan,Internet Worm and memory resident :
Use specified engine and DAT files for detection. To remove, boot to MS-DOS mode or use a boot diskette and use the command line scanner:

Additional Windows ME/XP removal considerations

Users should not trust file icons, particularly when receiving files from others via P2P clients, IRC, email or other mediums where users can share files.

AVERT Recommended Updates :

* Office2000 Updates

* Malformed Word Document Could Enable Macro to Run Automatically (Information/Patch )

* scriptlet.typelib/Eyedog vulnerability patch

* Outlook as an email attachment security update

* Exchange 5.5 post SP3 Information Store Patch 5.5.2652.42 - this patch corrects detection issues with GroupShield

For a list of attachments blocked by the Outlook patch and a general FAQ, visit this link .
Additionally, Network Administrators can configure this update using an available tool - visit this link for more information .

It is very common for macro viruses to disable options within Office applications for example in Word, the macro protection warning commonly is disabled. After cleaning macro viruses, ensure that your previously set options are again enabled.

Variants

Variants -

• Trojector.1561