FOR OFFICIAL DOE USE ONLY ________________________________________________________________________ THE COMPUTER INCIDENT ADVISORY CAPABILITY CIAC INFORMATION BULLETIN ________________________________________________________________________ Eradicating WDEF using Disinfectant 1.5 or 1.6 February 2, 1990, 1400 PST Number A-17 CIAC Information Bulletin A-9 reported the existence of the WDEF virus on Macintosh computers. The purpose of this bulletin is to provide additional information about eradicating this virus. Disinfectant 1.5 and the most recent version, Disinfectant 1.6, are capable of detecting and eradicating WDEF, but are not designed to prevent the spread of WDEF during its execution. If an infected disk is inserted into the Macintosh while Disinfectant is running (for the purposes of eradicating WDEF), WDEF will infect ANY OTHER UNLOCKED MOUNTED VOLUMES. If Disinfectant is to be used to eradicate a WDEF infection, CIAC recommends the following procedure: 1. Prepare a system disk using LOCKED originals. Use the instructions provided with the Macintosh documentation if you require assistance in preparing this system disk. If possible, you should not use your hard disk to prepare this system disk. Copy Disinfectant version 1.5 or version 1.6 to this disk. Lock the disk and shut down the system. 2. Reboot the Macintosh using the prepared system disk. Launch Disinfectant off the floppy and use the SCAN function to check your hard disk for the WDEF virus. If found, use the DISINFECT function to remove WDEF from your hard disk. Quit Disinfectant. 3. Reboot the Macintosh using this prepared system disk. You should drag any hard disks that automatically appear on the desktop to trash to unmount them. Launch the copy of Disinfectant on the system disk. Use the SCAN facility of Disinfectant to verify that WDEF has not infected the system disk. If it has, you will have to eject the system disk, unlock it, and insert it again. Use the DISINFECT function of Disinfectant to eradicate WDEF. Next, you should eject the system disk and lock it again. Reinsert the system disk. 4. Use Disinfectant to scan ALL of your floppy disks. WDEF will infect both system and non-system disks; to completely eradicate WDEF you will have to disinfect all of your disks (including backup disks). DO NOT USE YOUR HARD DRIVE DURING THIS PROCEDURE. 5. Once all of your floppy disks are disinfected, reboot your system using the locked system disk. Now run Disinfectant and disinfect your hard disk. Once WDEF has been eradicated from all floppies and your hard disk, the eradication procedure is complete. The most recent versions of other tools such as SAM, VIREX, GATEKEEPER, and GATEKEEPER AID may also be used to eradicate or prevent the spread of the WDEF virus. If you have questions concerning these tools, contact CIAC for assistance. For further information, or for a copy of Disinfectant 1.6, please contact CIAC: Tom Longstaff (415) 423-4416 or (FTS) 543-4416 FAX: (FTS) 543-0913 or (415) 294-5054 CIAC's business hours phone number is (415) 422-8193 or (FTS) 532-8193. Send e-mail to: ciac@tiger.llnl.gov Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government nor the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.