杏吧原创

IF YOU think you鈥檝e beaten the millennium bug by checking that all the
software you鈥檝e loaded onto your computer is Y2K compliant, beware. If you鈥檙e
unknowingly infected with a date-activated virus, it could wreak its own brand
of millennium havoc.

This warning comes from the Spanish anti-virus software company Panda. Its
staff have run Y2K checks on some of the 44 000 viruses in circulation, and have
found that the millennium bug could make many even more troublesome.

The Friday the 13th virus, for instance, lies dormant until the 13th day of
any month falls on a Friday. It then destroys the boot sector of the hard disc,
so that a PC won鈥檛 start until the operating system is reinstalled. The computer
then works properly until Friday the 13th comes round again.

These viruses rely on a division formula based on the number of days that
have passed since 1 January 1980, the starting date for most computer calendars.
When the clock in a Y2K-compliant PC reaches 1 January 2000, and changes its
calendar, the virus formula no longer works and can keep triggering every day.
If the PC is not compliant and defaults to 1980, the virus may trigger at dates
that aren鈥檛 a Friday the 13th.

鈥淐ompliancy is unlikely to be a virus writer鈥檚 first priority,鈥� says Panda鈥檚
technical director, Robert Richmond.