Sopron.937

This page shows details and results of our analysis on the malware Sopron.937

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Threat Detail

Malware Type: Virus

Malware Sub-type: File Infector

Discovery Date: 1997-06-01

Next Steps:

Overview
Characteristics
Symptoms
Method of Infection
Removal

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.

Minimum DAT

4002 (1998-12-02)

Updated DAT

4246 (2003-02-05)

Minimum Engine

5400.1158

File Length

937 Bytes

Description Added

1997-06-15

Description Modified

1997-06-15

Malware Proliferation

Characteristics

Sopron.937 is a memory resident, encrypted, file infecting virus. When it is memory resident, it infects .COM and .EXE files by writing to their ends as they are executed.

An infected file (CHIP.EXE) was shipped on a CD from a Hungarian computer magazine in Summer 1997.

Symptoms

Infected files will increase in size by 937 bytes, and are recoverable. On September 8th the virus will display the following message:

HDD-CLEANER Version 2.0 Copyright (c) 1997 (1st Jan)
Made in Hungary, Sopron
DESTRUCTION IN PROGRESS

The virus will then overwrite the first 16 sectors of the users C:\ drive.

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:

SCANPM /ADL /CLEAN /ALL

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.