The MacMag virus, also known by various other names, is a computer virus introduced in 1988 by Richard Brandow, who at the time was editor and publisher of MacMag computer magazine in Montréal.[1][2][3]
MacMag
The MacMag virus's 'Universal Peace' message, as displayed on a Mac SE in March 1988
The virus infects classic Macintosh computers, and the intention was that on 2 March 1988 all infected computers would show the message "RICHARD BRANDOW, publisher of MacMag, and its entire staff would like to take this opportunity to convey their UNIVERSAL MESSAGE OF PEACE to all Macintosh users around the world", and the virus would then delete itself. According to the virus itself, it was written by Drew Davidson. The virus is a boot sector virus, which is spread in the form of a HyperCard stack called "New Apple Products," which contained very poor pictures of the then-new Apple scanner. It copied a resource into the System folder on a Mac, as an "initial" program, which would run automatically every time the system started up. The program then copied itself onto any bootable disk which was opened.[4]
Damage causededit
Brandow intended the virus to be benign, giving a friendly message and causing no harm. However a bug in the virus caused infected Mac II computers to undergo system crashes before this date. Another bug, which affected very few users, caused files other than the original virus to be deleted during the termination stage. It also caused a great deal of anxiety among users who found that their computers were infected with an unwanted program the nature of which was unknown. The virus infected Aldus Corporation's FreeHand, and Aldus had to recall thousands of copies of FreeHand, leading them to threaten legal action.
Brandow's Attitudes to the virusedit
Brandow persistently called himself the "author" of the virus, but in fact he did not write it: he commissioned it to be written, and the virus internally contained the name "Drew Davidson". He never apologized, and always indicated that he was proud of his action. When confronted by users who had been adversely affected by the virus he used to reply with an argument about the level of handgun ownership in the United States.[5][6]
^Bocij, Paul The Dark Side of the Internet: Protecting Yourself and Your Family from Online Criminals, Praeger Publishers Inc 2006, ISBN0-275-98575-X, ISBN978-0-275-98575-2
^Roukis, George S.; Conway, Hugh; Charnov, Bruce H. (1990). Global Corporate Intelligence: Opportunities, Technologies, and Threats in the 1990s. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 335. ISBN9780899302201.
^Elmer-Dewitt, Philip (September 26, 1988). "Technology: Invasion of the Data Snatchers". Time. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
January 01, 1970
macmag, virus, also, known, various, other, names, computer, virus, introduced, 1988, richard, brandow, time, editor, publisher, computer, magazine, montréal, virus, universal, peace, message, displayed, march, 1988common, namealiasesdrewbrandowalduspeaceworld. The MacMag virus also known by various other names is a computer virus introduced in 1988 by Richard Brandow who at the time was editor and publisher of MacMag computer magazine in Montreal 1 2 3 MacMagThe MacMag virus s Universal Peace message as displayed on a Mac SE in March 1988Common nameMacMagAliasesDrewBrandowAldusPeaceWorld PeaceFamilyUnknownClassificationVirusTypeMacintoshSubtypeNuisanceIsolationDecember 1987Point of isolationUnknownPoint of originMontreal Quebec CanadaAuthor s Richard Brandow Drew Davidson Contents 1 Operation of the virus 2 Damage caused 3 Brandow s Attitudes to the virus 4 ReferencesOperation of the virus editThe virus infects classic Macintosh computers and the intention was that on 2 March 1988 all infected computers would show the message RICHARD BRANDOW publisher of MacMag and its entire staff would like to take this opportunity to convey their UNIVERSAL MESSAGE OF PEACE to all Macintosh users around the world and the virus would then delete itself According to the virus itself it was written by Drew Davidson The virus is a boot sector virus which is spread in the form of a HyperCard stack called New Apple Products which contained very poor pictures of the then new Apple scanner It copied a resource into the System folder on a Mac as an initial program which would run automatically every time the system started up The program then copied itself onto any bootable disk which was opened 4 Damage caused editBrandow intended the virus to be benign giving a friendly message and causing no harm However a bug in the virus caused infected Mac II computers to undergo system crashes before this date Another bug which affected very few users caused files other than the original virus to be deleted during the termination stage It also caused a great deal of anxiety among users who found that their computers were infected with an unwanted program the nature of which was unknown The virus infected Aldus Corporation s FreeHand and Aldus had to recall thousands of copies of FreeHand leading them to threaten legal action Brandow s Attitudes to the virus editBrandow persistently called himself the author of the virus but in fact he did not write it he commissioned it to be written and the virus internally contained the name Drew Davidson He never apologized and always indicated that he was proud of his action When confronted by users who had been adversely affected by the virus he used to reply with an argument about the level of handgun ownership in the United States 5 6 References editNorstad John The Viruses Disinfectant 3 7 1 c 1988 1997 Northwestern University Bocij Paul The Dark Side of the Internet Protecting Yourself and Your Family from Online Criminals Praeger Publishers Inc 2006 ISBN 0 275 98575 X ISBN 978 0 275 98575 2 Chapter 8 MacMag Cknow com 2009 05 09 Retrieved 2010 06 14 Neumann Peter G 16 March 1988 The Risks Digest Volume 6 Issue 44 Catless ncl ac uk Retrieved 2010 06 14 Virus History Thermopyle tripod com Retrieved 2010 06 14 Roukis George S Conway Hugh Charnov Bruce H 1990 Global Corporate Intelligence Opportunities Technologies and Threats in the 1990s Greenwood Publishing Group pp 335 ISBN 9780899302201 Elmer Dewitt Philip September 26 1988 Technology Invasion of the Data Snatchers Time Retrieved 2018 07 25 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title MacMag amp oldid 1166817620, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
