Kernel virus
A kernel virus is a special technique of a computer virus .
Kernel viruses first infect certain programs in computers that the operating system loads when the system starts ( kernels ). Kernel viruses are actually a mixture of a directory and a boot sector virus . The term does not refer to viruses that generally infect the kernel, but rather that use special processes when the kernel is loaded at system start-up ( boot ). In MS-DOS / Windows operating systems, the files IO.SYS or MSDOS.SYS are points of attack.
The only known representative of this species - in the wild - comes from Russia and is called 3APA3A . In the case of floppy disks it is in the boot sector , in the case of hard disks it uses a very unusual, rare technique: it creates a second invisible file IO.SYS, which contains the virus code. When the computer starts, the virus is loaded into memory instead of the original IO.SYS. The virus does not contain any damage function.
Zaraza is a synonym .
Web links
- Entry 3APA3A in F-Secure Virus Descriptions (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ What are the main types of PC viruses? , Ixis Research Ltd. www.softheap.com (Engl.)
- ↑ Entry Virus.Multi.3APA3A ( Memento of the original dated November 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , viruslist.com (engl.)
