Extinct Virus Stone.Angelina Makes A Comeback!

A 13-year old boot sector virus targeted some laptops installed with Windows Vista Home Premium.

The precise number of laptops infected by 'Stoned.Angelina' was unknown but some 10,000 to 100,000 laptops were destined to be sold in Europe's leading retailer Aldi's Danish and German stores. The firm also retails Medion laptops in Britain.

The laptops were installed with Microsoft's newest operating system Vista and Bullguard's anti-virus program that could not spot and eliminate the virus.

Even if the virus Stoned.Angelina is not damaging, it has definitely left the Microsoft and Bullguard officials red-faced regarding the evident fault in their program, which permitted the outdated virus to infiltrate the laptops.

Fortunately, the relevant virus is a hard disc boot-block that affects the master boot record (MBR), and though it can survive on the hard disc boot sector of the computers under consideration, it would require a floppy drive to infect other computers. So laptops sans floppy drives were sent.

The malware doesn't contain any damaging properties apart from seeking to spread itself. It doesn't erase files, lift passwords, or change the computer into spam distributing boot.

Though Bullguard has furnished a special device to eliminate the malicious software, the affair has emphasized the susceptibility of more recent security devices to more archaic dangers believed to be have got extinct long time back. Certain devices may even have the modules removed in order to deal the boot sector malware and other older dangers to enhance performance.

According to the 17 September 2007 news in The Register, John Hawes, the Virus Bulletin technical consultant, said that this was a warning that old viruses don't really cease.

Malicious software that had been out for ages crops often when least anticipated, after somebody discovers an ancient floppy or restarts an old computer. However, security agencies are responsible to maintain security against these ancient dangers in these types of contingency.

The SillyFD-AA worm was detected aiming detachable USB media in May 2007, distantly echoing the method adopted by Stone.Angelina.

Related article: Estonia Court Proves Ethnic Russian Guilty of Hacking

» SPAMfighter News - 10/1/2007