Virus Busting, the Leprechaun way!
+--------------------------------+
Well I thought I might call Leprechaun's BBS (company which releases
the anti-virus product "Virus Buster") and capture a chat with the
sysop there and then publish it in issue #2 of the magazine, well here
it is! Not much really as I'm not the most convincing chatter and I
have talked to him once before but hey.. here it is..
The dude I talked to was "John" and it seems he's responsible for
a fair amount of the work that goes on at Leprechaun, ah well.. his job
is worthless with people like us around haha
M:Metabolis
J:John
[comments from me!]
------------------cut here!--------------------------------------------
M:hi there, how's life treating you
J:Hard .. too much work ... too little money .. you know the story ...
[I can associate with this..]
M:well I'm trying to write as many viruses as possible to help you
along the way :) heh
J:thanks ....
[You can see he's really appreciative of our help]
M:not a problem.. heh.. so, do you have a copy of our magazine?
[He has our Aussie dist site number]
J:no, wasn't able to get a connect ... all I got was a blank screen ..
[Ain't that convenient? :) ]
M:oh bummer.. heh.. ah well! life goes on.. works for me.. strange
J:probably some modem / comms stuff up
M:heh that's ok.. gives ppl a little more time to do their job of
moving the nasties around
J:oh ta ... I appreciate that one ...':
[now he appreciates it!]
M:well we know it's illegal to purposely distribute them.. ppl just
compile them debug scripts and do it for us.. safer that way :)
[the old "I'm sorry officer" speech hehe]
J:ha ha ... a little easier / safer for you maybe ...
[as I said.. safer for us.. repetition!]
M:yep.. and it's all one big game to be played as wise as possible
anyway.. very soon you should get a copy of a new virus with hmmm
7 constant bytes, my polymorphism isn't that good but that'll stuff
up some wildcards :)
[Brag/toss off time.. ah well hehe.. had to be done and this guy
thinks I write the viruses! Me lamer!]
J:We have the technology to defeat you (paraphrasing $6M man)
[Sounds impressive! What does he mean?]
M:heh what is it about "fuzzy logic" I heard in VB?
[A rumour I heard about their software]
J:Just a bit of code I whipped up to make my life easier and yours
harder ...
[I'm hurt]
M:hehe.. hmmm is it something like heuristics?
[hey.. I don't know what it is!]
J:That'd be telling ....
[ooh industrial ToP SeCReT iNFo]
M:well I could always call the local k-rAd c0oL bbs and get meself
a copy :) haha
[not that I could.. I'm no \/\/aReZ d00d :) ]
J:oh ... you could always send us a cheque and get a legal copy ...
[as if!]
M:heh :) I'd like to promote local industry but I have a slight pennie
problem (i.e. they don't exist) as you may be able to associate with
J:right ....
M:yer, you mentioned something of a news reported last time we
talked hmmm
[trying to get him to say something cool for this article :) ]
J:yes, a national media guy wants to write an article on viruses, etc.
[well after the last local media virus thang I can surely say fuck
off to this idea! ]
M:the media don't do very well when covering viruses.. it seems they
all like to go for the scare tactic/make virus authors look like
shit/murderers
[actually the murderer part is mostly confined to fidonet haha
Edwin Cleeton/Jeff Cook.. bite me!]
J:them's the breaks ... one other thing, if you're short of pennies,
how do you pay for the STD call from Melbourne?
[obviously pressing me for info, he obviously thinks the number of
the dist site is where we come from! Well the number is in Perth
anyway! ]
M: :) .. never you mind! haha
[had to sound elite.. a matter of principle heh]
J:Telecom would be interested in that one ...
[scare tactics?]
M:I'm sure it would but I'm calling from my mum's workplace so you
can have fun trying to get something done about it :)
[bullshit story to give him his jollies]
J:Thanks for the info .... :)
[ooh he now can bust me for phreaking]
M:pleasure, you now know I have a mother.
[I'm busted for sure now! I mean it's not as if having a Mother is
usual or anything]
J:Is that just a mother or a mother......
[is that a cryptic question?]
M:hmmm well she's a good mum.. lets me use the phone.. heh
J:Some people can get away with anything .... :)
[I like to think so]
M:fair enough.. hmmm the tafe I go to .. they had a taste of no
frills hehe.. such ancient things eh?
[reminding him of his most favourite virus author and giving him
some info to mislead him totally]
J:and badly written too ..
[I don't think so.. one of the most prolific spreaders around
Australia to date]
M: :) .. better than mine
[too true]
J:got some samples ?
[as if!]
J:care to upload them?
[sure I will!]
M:duh.. ok (no way :)
J:ok, got to go and think up new ways of making my life easier ...
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Do you feel enlightened as to the lameness of Leprechaun? I do.
Nope, at one stage they were right on top of the virus scene in
Australia.. it caught nearly everything in Oz, but lately they have
definately gone into a demise. They haven't submitted their product
to VSUM lately I wonder why.. (not that it means shit).
Ah well, I still use Thunderbyte.. not that it picks up most of
our stuff but it does the job ok. If only it had the virus comments
that F-Prot does.. be great to scan my collection with :)
Metabolis/VLAD
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