| Ct | |
|---|---|
| Type | Boot sector virus |
| Creator | |
| Date Discovered | 1988 |
| Place of Origin | Germany? |
| Source Language | |
| Platform | Atari ST |
| Infection Length | 1 boot sector |
| Reported Costs | |
Ct is a boot sector virus for the Atari ST. It was discovered in 1988 and featured in a German technology magazine.
Behavior
When a disk infected with Ct is booted, it loads itself into memory. It copies itself to any disks that are currently attached or that are attached while the virus is resident. It may cause permanent damage to the hard disk while infecting. The virus will stay in memory even after a reset.
The virus has two payloads. It writes the message "ARRRGGGHHH Diskvirus hat wieder zugeschlagen" on the screen when it is activated. Ct also has a malicious Payload that triggers if the date stamp is 1987. It deletes the FAT of the floppy and hard disk.
Origin
The virus was discovered by Wim Nottroth in summer of 1988. It was featured in a German technology magazine named "Computer & Technik" with a full source code listing, enabling readers to reproduce the virus and create their own variants. The magazine authors claimed to have found it on one of their disks. The virus is variously called CT, Ct, or C't, probably from becoming relatively famous because of "Computer & Technik". There is a possibility that one of the magazine's writers is responsible for the virus, as one of them was strongly believed to be responsible for the 1987 Milzbrand aka Anthrax virus.