H-47a: AOL4FREE.COM Trojan Horse Program Destroys Hard Drives

PROBLEM:       A Trojan Horse program called AOL4FREE.COM that deletes all 
               files on a hard drive is circulating the Internet. 
PLATFORM:      DOS/Windows-based PCs 
DAMAGE:        When the AOL4FREE.COM program is executed, all files and 
               directories on the users C: drive are deleted. 
SOLUTION:      DO NOT execute this program. If the program starts executing, 
               quickly pressing Ctrl-C will save some of your files. 
VULNERABILITY  Users who download the trojaned AOL4FREE.COM program and 
ASSESSMENT:    executes it will destroy all the files and directories on their 
               DOS C: drive. 


CIAC has obtained a Trojaned copy of AOL4FREE.COM that destroys hard drives.

NOTE: This is different from the AOL4FREE Virus Warning hoax message.


CIAC has obtained a Trojaned copy of the AOL4FREE.COM program that, if run, 
deletes all the files on a user's hard drive. If you are e-mailed this file, 
or if you have downloaded it from an online service, do not attempt to run it. 
If the program was received as an attachment to an e-mail message, do not 
double click (open) it. Opening an attached program runs that program, which 
in this case deletes all the files on your hard drive. The original 
AOL4FREE was a Macintosh program for fraudulently creating free AOL (America Online) 
accounts. Note that any attempt to use the original AOL4FREE program may 
subject you to prosecution.

NOTE: Most antivirus programs will not detect this or other Trojan Horse 
      programs.

Detection
=========

AOL4FREE.COM is a Trojan program that is 993 bytes (2 sectors) long. 
The following text is readable in the AOL4FREE.COM file 
if you display it with the DOS TYPE command or the DOS EDIT program.

Compiled by BAT2EXEC 1.5
PC Magazine . Douglas Boling

Note that this text may appear in any program compiled with the BAT2EXEC 
program and has nothing to do with the Trojan Horse.

If you open the AOL4FREE.COM file with a disk editor or with the Windows 
Notepad program, the following text is found at the end of the second sector 
of the file.

PATH
COMMANDC earc
/C C:
/C CD\
DELTREE   /y *.*
ECHOOYOUR COMPUTER HAS JUST BEEN F***ED BY *VP* F*** YOU AOL-LAMER

Where F*** is a common vulgar expletive.

Recovery
========

Pressing Ctrl-C before the Trojan Horse finishes deleting all your files will 
save some of them. If the program runs to completion, all the files on 
your root drive will have been deleted. The files are deleted with the 
DOS DELTREE command, so the contents of the files are still on your hard 
disk, only the directory entries have been deleted. Any program that can 
recover deleted files will allow you to recover some or all of the files 
on your hard disk. 

While attempting to recover files, be sure to not write any new files onto 
the hard disk as the new files may overwrite the contents of a deleted file, 
making it impossible to recover. You will probably have to boot your system 
with a floppy and run any recovery programs from there. 

If you happen to have one of the delete tracking programs installed on your 
system (a program that keeps track of deleted files in case you want them 
back) the recovery operation will be relatively simple. Follow the directions
in your delete tracking program to recover your files. If not, you will 
probably have to recover each file individually, supplying the first character 
of the file name, which is overwritten in the directory when the file is 
deleted. Most DOS/Windows disk tools programs also have the capability for 
recovering deleted files so follow the directions included with those programs 
to do so.

Background
==========

The original AOL4FREE Macintosh program was developed to fraudulently create free 
AOL accounts. The creator of that program has pleaded guilty to defrauding 
America Online for distributing that program. Anyone else attempting to use 
that program to defraud AOL could also be prosecuted.

The AOL4FREE Virus Warning message has been circulating about the Internet 
and warns of an AOL4FREE virus infected e-mail message that infects and 
destroys a system when the message is read, but that warning is a hoax 
and not about this Trojan horse.

1.  The AOL4FREE.COM program is a Trojan Horse, not a virus. It does not 
    spread on its own.
2.  A Trojan Horse must be run to do any damage. 
3.  Reading an e-mail message with the Trojan Horse program as an attachment
    will not run the Trojan Horse and will not do any damage. Note that 
    opening an attached program from within an e-mail reader runs that 
    attached program, which may make it appear that reading the attachment 
    caused the damage. Users should keep in mind that any file with a .COM or 
    .EXE extension is a program, not a document and that double clicking or 
    opening that program will run it. Macintosh users have the additional
    problem that Macintosh programs do not have readable extensions, and so
    are more difficult to detect. Extra care should be taken to insure
    that you do not unintentionally execute an attached program.

CIAC still affirms that reading an e-mail message, even one with an attached 
program, can not do damage to a system. The attachment must be both downloaded
onto the system and run to do any damage.




CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE Contractors, and the NIH. CIAC
can be contacted at:
    Voice:          +1 925-422-8193 (7 x 24)
    FAX:            +1 925-423-8002
    STU-III:        +1 925-423-2604
    E-mail:          ciac@ciac.org
    World Wide Web:  http://www.ciac.org/
    Anonymous FTP:   ftp.ciac.org




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UCRL-MI-119788 

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