🚀 go-pugleaf

In VIRUS-L Digest, Thursday, 8 Jun 1989, Volume 2 : Issue 132:
   odawa@well.sf.ca.us (Michael Odawa) writes:

> Let us set the record straight on this subject:

> No known software publisher has ever intentionally released a virus
> into circulation, nor is it likely that any would do so, as it would
> be contrary to their interests.  Viruses threaten the entire software
> industry and expose the releasing party to an enormous legal
> liability.

While the following information pertains specifically to a trojan
horse, it is a prime example of a software company (or at the very
least - individuals at a software company) writing deleterious
software to further personal aims.

I quote from the "Dirty Dozen List, Revision 8D";

SUG.ARC  - "    Words can not express my feelings about this trojan.
            SUG.ARC advertises that it can break SOFTGUARD copy protection,
            but upon invocation, it will scramble the FATs on drive A, B,
            C, and onwards to your highest drive.

- ---->           While this is certainly  a nasty trojan, it is particularly
- ---->       repulsive because SOFTGUARD, CORP, THE CREATORS OF SOFTGUARD
- ---->       COPY-PROTECTION, WROTE IT - perhaps in response to declining
- ---->       business. [My emphasis - RJS III]

                They claim that anyone who runs SUG is breaking an
            original license agreement; therefore they may legally destroy
            data.

                I don't credit this, and neither does an attorney I
            know, so I eagerly anticipate Softguard's day in court."

I wouldn't normally credit rumors of this sort, but this list has
generally been well-researched, and the author(s) seem(s) to put a lot
of time into verification of the reports he receives.

Cheers,
Bob
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Robert J. Stratton, III   BITNET:   BSTRATTO@NAS
Stratton Systems Design   INTERNET: BSTRATTO%NAS.BITNET@UUNET.UU.NET
Alexandria, VA, USA       USENET:   uunet!NAS.BITNET!BSTRATTO
                          PSTNET:   1-202-334-3638
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Software is like entropy. It is difficult to grasp, weighs nothing, and
 obeys the Second Law of Thermodynamics; i.e., it always increases."
 -- Law XVII: "Augustine's Laws" -- Norman R. Augustine --