European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 21, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Electronic terrorists Clever trojans that devastate computer data by Mark Mccain new York times a new Breed of vandals working Wilnin avast no work of computer bulletin hoards arc devising sophisticated Sollway reprogram that and scramble the computer files of unsuspecting users Tho practice is stirring mis Rusl and angor among business executives academics and hobbyists who Exchange free computer software on the bulletin hoards the vandals using Telephone links from their computers arc transferring the programs Onlo she bulletin boards hoping to look thousands of people Inlo duplicating the programs to use in their of computers at great Harn it s like poisoning Tho Candy in the supermarket on halloween said Ross m Groenberg. A Manhattan computer consultant i guess he people who devise these things take pleasure in destroying other people e work " known As Trojan horses the programs pretend to be something useful like a word processor or game Board but they Are electronic terrorists ready to erase or scramble Dala stored in compilers the programs began appearing several years ago and now have reached a level of sophistication thai allows them to sometimes outbox computer experts who Are on guard for them among the dozens of trojans in circulation some by join Ihei destruct inn within minutes others perform As legitimate software for weeks or months then tour off an electronic time bomb 1h a person May lose five minutes of work or two years of work said Greenberg who maintains Severa tools of defense against trojans including a Sollwan program that alerts him to suspicious activity within i. Ism personal computer last week Greenberg unwillingly loaded a Trojan my his computer s memory alerted by the p Culiar operation of the program he managed to fight Back last enough to avoid wholesale devastation. It was he remarked a very Clever Tro like hundreds of other computer enthusiasts across the country Greenberg operates a computer bulletin Board As a Public service. Each Sysop shorthand Tor system operator As he Board operators Are called keeps a computer hooked up o a Telephone line 24 hours a Day providing a Clearing House Tor hundreds of free Public Domain software programs people Connell their computers Inlo the bulletin boards via Telephone Hookup devices called modems Bolh to donate programs and make copies of program already posted on the boards some of the free software is Superior to commercial software trial Sells Tor hundreds of dollars. Some of it i mediocre and gome of it. The Lojan variety is just waiting to raise havoc several companies provide services for a fee that Are similar to the bulletin hoards one of them. Compuserve inc. Of Columbus. Ohio said it tests All donated sol Waro before offering it to other users. The Trojan software represents another chapter in the exploits of the computer hackers who invest countless hours in computerized Subler Tuge there Are Hac a out hero who really amuse people with their said Dave Bayer an assistant professor of a the Malics at Columbia University by the tasks who write looms Are simply mean spirited and malicious there s a i skill involved in trashing people s hard disks " a hard disk the in Mary unit of advanced personal computers can hold the equivalent of 400 to 1.200 pages of single spaced typewritten data like tape Casscles the Oise a con be erased intentionally no. 1 Over the past a Cor trojans have become nor sophisticated enc Newhouse an to Rcv old computer in i k Angeles they used o u lids up me55agnrj tin to r screen like a a i m hoteling Ai Yew it if o i to do Hal mo.1,1 Iacre arc Vinogr trojans a Civ House said one called Norci or crids to be a program lha guards against it s actually a Lime bomb hat v.ii1 out your he i l rl.-.1 ally it s More than 70 Pyrc Cal full " the try Junr , to k a the compiler incr Neil instruction to i prel Riding Loput Loire Page 14 the stars and stripes
