Poet Code Virus

Virus Name: Poet Code Aliases: V Status: Rare Discovered: July, 1993 Symptoms: .COM & .EXE growth; low pitched sound or beeping; buzzing; frequent system hangs; decrease in total system & available free memory Origin: Unknown Eff Length: 2,149 - 2,224 Bytes Type Code: PRhAK - Parasitic Resident .COM & .EXE Infector Detection Method: F-Prot, Sweep, NAV, NAVDX, VAlert, ViruScan, AVTK 7.68+, Sweep/N, NShld, NAV/N, AVTK/N 7.68+ Removal Instructions: Delete infected files General Comments: The Poet Code virus was received in July, 1993. Its origin or point of isolation is unknown. Poet Code is a memory resident infector of .COM and .EXE programs, including COMMAND.COM. When the first Poet Code infected program is executed, the Poet Code virus will install itself memory resident at the top of system memory but below the 640K DOS boundary, not moving interrupt 12's return. Total system and available free memory, as indicated by the DOS CHKDSK program, will have decreased by approximately 3K. Interrupts 03 and 21 will be hooked by the Poet Code virus in memory. Once the Poet Code virus is memory resident, it will infect .COM and .EXE programs, including COMMAND.COM, when they are executed. Infected programs will have a file length increase of 2,149 to 2,224 bytes with the virus being located at the end of the file. The program's date and time in the DOS disk directory listing will not be altered. The following text strings are encrypted within the Poet Code virus, and are thus not visible within infected programs: "Lucifer Messiah -- ANARKICK SYSTEMS" "POET Prototype" Programs infected with the Poet Code virus will frequently hang the system when they are executed. Additionally, a low pitched sound or beep may be emitted from the system speaker, followed by a continuous buzzing sound.