Virtual PC

"Ionizer" <me7.RemoveThis@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:2k25pqF16834hU1@uni-berlin.de...
> "losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message
> news:40DB8623.6050104@canada.com...
> > Could virus infect a virtual PC?

A virtual virus?

> Fred Langa was discussing VPCs in his latest newsletter: "A VPC can put an
> entire operating system and all your apps--- *everything*--- inside a
> sandbox. Whatever happens in the Virtual PC (even a total system crash or
> a catastrophic "wipe the hard drive" problem) has zero effect on the real
> PC."

If your VPC is networked, It can spread the virus if it can find a open
share or if it has access to the internet. The virus don't care.

Dr.X
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

"losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message news:40DB8623.6050104@canada.com...
> Could virus infect a virtual PC?

No. Viruses don't infect PCs, they infect programs.
Yes, they can infect programs when running on a virtual PC.

Why do you ask?
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

FromTheRafters wrote:

> "losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message news:40DB8623.6050104@canada.com...
>
>>Could virus infect a virtual PC?
>
>
> No. Viruses don't infect PCs, they infect programs.
> Yes, they can infect programs when running on a virtual PC.
>
> Why do you ask?

presumably the virtual pc itself is program, is it not? could not that
program become infected like any other?

--
"maxwell can tell he's in hell
just wants you to visit him there
same old game that he's playin'
his rules are never fair"
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

Correction,

Viruses can infect a PC itself, BIOS based viruses which are rare and few
and far between can most certainly do this.

-L


"FromTheRafters" <!0000@nomad.fake> wrote in message
news:10dp4iej14fi40d@corp.supernews.com...
>
> "losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message
news:40DB8623.6050104@canada.com...
> > Could virus infect a virtual PC?
>
> No. Viruses don't infect PCs, they infect programs.
> Yes, they can infect programs when running on a virtual PC.
>
> Why do you ask?
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

Locke Nash Cole wrote:
[correcting malformed usenet article]
> "FromTheRafters" <!0000@nomad.fake> wrote in message
>>"losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message

>>>Could virus infect a virtual PC?
>>
>>No. Viruses don't infect PCs, they infect programs.
>>Yes, they can infect programs when running on a virtual PC.
>>
>>Why do you ask?
>>
> Correction,
>
> Viruses can infect a PC itself, BIOS based viruses which are rare and few
> and far between can most certainly do this.

y'know... it's generally a good idea, when correcting someone, to make
sure *you* are correct...

there is no such thing as a bios based virus... there are bios trashing
viruses (that only work with some implementations of flash bios) but
none that infect the bios...

--
"maxwell can tell he's in hell
just wants you to visit him there
same old game that he's playin'
his rules are never fair"
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

"kurt wismer" <kurtw DeleteThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:6S3Dc.47047$MU4.1280410@news20.bellglobal.com...
> FromTheRafters wrote:
>
> > "losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message news:40DB8623.6050104@canada.com...
> >
> >>Could virus infect a virtual PC?
> >
> >
> > No. Viruses don't infect PCs, they infect programs.
> > Yes, they can infect programs when running on a virtual PC.
> >
> > Why do you ask?
>
> presumably the virtual pc itself is program, is it not?

In much the same manner as an OS is a program. It is that and
more, because it emulates the hardware abstraction as well if
I understand it correctly.

> could not that program become infected like any other?

I'm sure it could, but infecting an OS system file does not infect the
whole system - just the affected file. I'm guessing it is likewise the
case with a virtual platform. If we are to consider complex "programs"
like OSes to be infected - we may as well consider self-contained
worm files to have "infected" the OS program and call them viruses
too.
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

"Locke Nash Cole" <junkmauler RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message news:Lg6Dc.118185$0y.93127@attbi_s03...
> Correction,
>
> Viruses can infect a PC itself, BIOS based viruses which are rare and few
> and far between can most certainly do this.

Name one.

I have never heard of a virus that didn't infect software - that is to
say, one that infects firmware.
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

losl(removethis) wrote:

> Could virus infect a virtual PC?

I use Microsoft's Virtual PC to test whether virus samples that I come
across are viable (or rather: viable enough to be included in my modest
non-scientific collection).

Of course, since Virtual PC and VMware do not technically emulate the
code but execute it on the physical processor, there is always a
theoretical risk that a virus might escape from this environment.
One famous virus author has written a short article on how a virus can
find out whether it's running in Vmware.

Or what exactly do you mean by "virtual PC"?
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

FromTheRafters wrote:

> "kurt wismer" <kurtw DeleteThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:6S3Dc.47047$MU4.1280410@news20.bellglobal.com...
>
>>FromTheRafters wrote:
>>
>>
>>>"losl(removethis)" <"losl(removethis)"@canada.com> wrote in message news:40DB8623.6050104@canada.com...
>>>
>>>
>>>>Could virus infect a virtual PC?
>>>
>>>
>>>No. Viruses don't infect PCs, they infect programs.
>>>Yes, they can infect programs when running on a virtual PC.
>>>
>>>Why do you ask?
>>
>>presumably the virtual pc itself is program, is it not?
>
>
> In much the same manner as an OS is a program. It is that and
> more, because it emulates the hardware abstraction as well if
> I understand it correctly.

if *i* understand correctly a virtual pc is nothing more than a
hardware (cpu, ram, hard drive) emulator... the ones i've seen require
you to install an operating system on them in order to do anything
interesting with them...

>>could not that program become infected like any other?
>
> I'm sure it could, but infecting an OS system file does not infect the
> whole system - just the affected file. I'm guessing it is likewise the
> case with a virtual platform. If we are to consider complex "programs"
> like OSes to be infected - we may as well consider self-contained
> worm files to have "infected" the OS program and call them viruses
> too.

except the OS isn't a complex program anymore than a user interface is
a complex program... they're concepts, not programs, they they are
implemented in programs or collections of programs...

of course i've just made your point for you, since the virtual PC is
likewise not a program but implemented in a program...

--
"maxwell can tell he's in hell
just wants you to visit him there
same old game that he's playin'
his rules are never fair"
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

Locke Nash Cole wrote:

> Several BIOS's come with virus protection for themselves,

bios level virus protection is nothing more than write protection for
the bootsector of the hard drive...

> and lots of
> motherboards have a jumper to prevent re-flashing of the BIOS by unknown
> programs, but for your viewing pleasure...

the 'jumper' predates flash bios trashing malware (just as floppy disk
write protect tabs predate viruses)...

> BIOS Virus W95/CIH.1019 (Tsernobyl) can re-write bios on several chipsets
> (not all)

cih is not a "bios virus"... corrupting the bios (what cih does)
doesn't make it a bios virus anymore than corrupting jpeg's would make
something a jpeg virus or corrupting mp3's would make something an mp3
virus...

so far it seems like you've been misinformed...

--
"maxwell can tell he's in hell
just wants you to visit him there
same old game that he's playin'
his rules are never fair"
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

Bart Bailey wrote:

> In Message-ID:<10dtqig1fi01lba DeleteThis @corp.supernews.com> posted on Sun, 27 Jun
> 2004 11:38:05 -0400, FromTheRafters wrote: Begin:
>
>
>>A virus with a payload that.........
>
>
> What's your distinction, if any, between a virus from any source that
> infects your email application, and a virus that infects any application
> but comes via email?
>
> Are either considered to be email virii?

the convention for virus terminology would suggest that an "email
virus" is a virus that infects emails (because viruses are classified
by what they infect)... since emails are not infectable there can be no
email viruses...

--
"maxwell can tell he's in hell
just wants you to visit him there
same old game that he's playin'
his rules are never fair"
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

"Bart Bailey" <me2.RemoveThis@privacy.net> wrote in message news:40df0f3c.11584759@bart.spawar.mil...
> In Message-ID:<10dtqig1fi01lba.RemoveThis@corp.supernews.com> posted on Sun, 27 Jun
> 2004 11:38:05 -0400, FromTheRafters wrote: Begin:
>
> >A virus with a payload that.........
>
> What's your distinction, if any, between a virus from any source that
> infects your email application, and a virus that infects any application
> but comes via email?

No distinction, both are file infectors. One may be a payload of sorts that
is carried by an e-mail vector worm, while the other may be a payload of
another (or a mixture) type of worm. A virus need only copy its viral code
in order to be a virus - anything else it copies along with it is payload to me.
A worm sends itself (or a fragment of itself) to another device and doesn't
*need* to have a viral function - so I consider the viral function to be worm
payload.

> Are either considered to be email virii?

Since "e-mail" is not a program, it cannot be infected. The fact that internet
mail has been extended to allow executable content transmission does not
mean that e-mail is now infectable - it only means that the deeper content
encapsulated within could have been infected.
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC 

"kurt wismer" <kurtw.DeleteThis@sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:LRFDc.1729$207.178362@news20.bellglobal.com...

> if *i* understand correctly a virtual pc is nothing more than a
> hardware (cpu, ram, hard drive) emulator... the ones i've seen require
> you to install an operating system on them in order to do anything
> interesting with them...

Yes, I assumed that a user would want more than an error message if
the "missing operating system" message is also emulated. ;o)
 >> Stay informed about: Virtual PC