Re: NinjaForce, LodeRunner, and Viruses

[nparker@cie-2.uoregon.edu (Neil Parker)]

In article <Cxu1LE.CJ3@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
rbraun@Hopper.ITC.Virginia.EDU (Rolf Braun) writes:
>I'm kind of virus-wary when downloading stuff, so I thought I'd ask
>two questions...
>
>First, there was a "Lode Runner" virus a while ago. Also, there seem
>to be a lot of Lode Runner GS clones out there. Are these two related?

Probably not.  Lode Runner was originally a classic Apple II game made by
(I think) Broderbund.  The "Lode Runner GS" clones are probably based on
this program.

Load Runner (note the difference in spelling) was an Apple IIGS boot-sector
virus which appears to have originated in France.  I don't know if it was
ever proven, but when Load Runner first appeared, there was a rumor that it
was originally spread by a program called Speedysmith, which was a fast
3.5-inch disk copier from France.

I suspect the only connection between the two was that the name of the
virus was a pun on the name of the game.

In any event, I doubt there are very many live copies of Load Runner (the
virus, not the game) left out there.  By now most copies should have been
wiped out, either by anti-virus software or by its own "payload" (when Load
Runner's "trigger date" rolls around, it wipes out the boot sectors of
disks, killing itself in the process).

>Second, I heard that NinjaForce originated the Blackout virus. Is this
>the same NinjaForce that is in Germany today that just posted an
>announcement to c.s.a2? If so, what's going on?

The same question occurred to me.  Alas, I don't know the answer.

              - Neil Parker
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