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.

Characteristics

The Albania viruses are file infecting viruses which do not become memory resident. They infect .COM files, including COMMAND.COM.

Each time a file infected with one of the Albania viruses is executed, the Albania virus infects one .COM file in the current directory. "

Additional Comments:
Albania is actually a family of four viruses which were received in January, 1992. They are from Bulgaria. All of these viruses are non-resident, direct action infectors of .COM programs, including COMMAND.COM. Their general behavior is described below, with specific infection information listed under known variants. When a program infected with one of the Albania viruses is executed, the Albania virus will infect one .COM program located in the current directory. If COMMAND.COM is located in this directory, it may become infected. The file length increase for Albania infected programs depends on the Albania virus present, but the viral code will always be located at the end of the infected program. The infected file's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing will have been updated to the current system date and time when infection occurred. The following text strings can be found in all infected programs, regardless of the variant present: "PATH=" "*.COM" It is unknown if Albania does anything besides replicate. Known variant(s) of Albania are:

Symptoms

The following text strings are found in all infected files.

PATH=
*.COM

The file length increase for Albania infected files depends on the variant. The viral code is always located at the end of the infected file.

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

• Albania.429
• Albania.506
• Albania.575
• Albania.606

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.

Characteristics

Characteristics -

The Albania viruses are file infecting viruses which do not become memory resident. They infect .COM files, including COMMAND.COM.

Each time a file infected with one of the Albania viruses is executed, the Albania virus infects one .COM file in the current directory. "

Additional Comments:
Albania is actually a family of four viruses which were received in January, 1992. They are from Bulgaria. All of these viruses are non-resident, direct action infectors of .COM programs, including COMMAND.COM. Their general behavior is described below, with specific infection information listed under known variants. When a program infected with one of the Albania viruses is executed, the Albania virus will infect one .COM program located in the current directory. If COMMAND.COM is located in this directory, it may become infected. The file length increase for Albania infected programs depends on the Albania virus present, but the viral code will always be located at the end of the infected program. The infected file's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing will have been updated to the current system date and time when infection occurred. The following text strings can be found in all infected programs, regardless of the variant present: "PATH=" "*.COM" It is unknown if Albania does anything besides replicate. Known variant(s) of Albania are:

Symptoms

Symptoms -

The following text strings are found in all infected files.

PATH=
*.COM

The file length increase for Albania infected files depends on the variant. The viral code is always located at the end of the infected file.

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 -

• Albania.429
• Albania.506
• Albania.575
• Albania.606