Axe-1024 Virus

Virus Name: Axe-1024 Aliases: 1024E V Status: Rare Discovery: October, 1993 Symptoms: .EXE file growth; Decrease in total system & available free memory Origin: Hungary Eff Length: 1,024 - 1,038 Bytes Type Code: PRhE - Parasitic Resident .EXE Infector Detection Method: ViruScan, F-Prot, AVTK, Sweep, NAV, IBMAV, NAVDX, VAlert, NShld, Sweep/N, AVTK/N, NProt, NAV/N, IBMAV/N Removal Instructions: Delete infected files General Comments: The Axe-1024, or 1024E, virus was submitted in October, 1993. It is from Hungary. Axe-1024 is a memory resident infector of .EXE programs. When the first Axe-1024 infected program is executed, this 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 1,328 bytes. Interrupts 09 and 21 will be hooked by the virus in memory. Once the Axe-1024 virus is memory resident, it will infect the first .EXE program in the current directory each time any program is executed. The first .EXE program in the directory will increase in size by 1,024 to 1,038 bytes with the first infection, and 1,024 bytes with each reinfection. The virus will be 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 visible within the viral code in all Axe-1024 infected programs: "????????EXE" "AXE" It is unknown what Axe-1024 does besides replicate.