Hi!
I am doing a report about the chernobyl virus and hope to get additional information from people who are familiar with it. As I've read, the worms are supposed to destroy only the software but the chernobyl virus has actually the power to damage the hardware. Hope that someone can technically explain how the virus could do it.
Does the chernobyl virus also destroy programs?
The Chernobyl virus was originally called the CIH virus, named after its creator Chen Ing Har, who is Taiwanese. He was a college student at that time. It was later called the Chernobyl virus because it was activated on April 16, 1999, which was the 13th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.
This virus was designed to infect Windows®-based operating systems, unlike worms that destroy programs and executable files on the computer. The purpose of the virus was mainly to infect computers that use Windows® 95, 98, and ME operating systems.
The Chernobyl virus covertly overwrites PE format files. When installed, the virus splits itself and goes into the spaces between the files. It does not increase the file size, which makes it difficult for antivirus programs to detect. Due to this, the virus gained its nickname, "Spacefiller."
Does the chernobyl virus also destroy programs?
The “Chernobyl” virus is a virus that has a potentially damaging payload that can destroy all data when the infected file is launched. The Chernobyl virus is also called “CIH” or “Spacefiller”. It is a Windows 9x virus which first appeared in 1998.
The virus is highly destructive on vulnerable systems which can overwrite critical information on infected system drives and in several instances it can damage the system BIOS. This is the first known virus to have the capacity to damage computer hardware. The activated viral strain tries to erase the hard drive and overwrite the system’s BIOS.
The Chernobyl virus was detected as early as 1998 but the payload was first triggered in April 16, 1999. This date is the 13th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster. Users with Windows 95 and Windows 98 are more vulnerable to the risk of contracting the virus. It is under these operating systems that the virus replicates and becomes active.
DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 2000, Windows NT, or Macintosh users are not considered at risk. “CIH” is the initials of Chen Ing-hau, the alleged author of the virus, who is a Taiwanese computer engineering student.
