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October 16: The Apocalypse is Postponed

October 15, 2001

SirCam's destructive function is not triggered on October 16, which is just like any other day. According to announcements made by a number of media sources, tomorrow, October 16, a new wave of incidences connected with the widespread, destructive, malicious Internet worm "SirCam" is supposed to...

SirCam's destructive function is not triggered on October 16, which is just like any other day.

According to announcements made by a number of media sources, tomorrow, October 16, a new wave of incidences connected with the widespread, destructive, malicious Internet worm "SirCam" is supposed to splash across the world. Kaspersky Lab has moved to refute these claims, and announce that, according to what currently is known, modifications of the "SirCam" virus contain a bug, which results in the worm not being capable of destroying any data on this date.

"SirCam's" code does contain procedures capable of destroying data on an infected computer, which the worm's author set to activate on October 16, each year, with a 5% probability. In order to start up the data-destroying program, "SirCam" utilizes an alternate system. As has been demonstrated following research conducted by Kaspersky Lab' experts, this system contains a bug, rendering "SirCam's" destructive function impotent.

In spite of this bug, "SirCam" does contain other side effects, one of the most dangerous being the unauthorized sending of random files from an infected computer. Due to this, it is possible that confidential information could be leaked.

So as to effectively protect yourself against "SirCam," we recommend constantly using a resident anti-virus monitor, and conducting a regular scanning using an anti-virus scanner. You can download a Kaspersky Anti-Virus trial version here.

Useful Links

Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia, "SirCam" description.

October 16: The Apocalypse is Postponed

SirCam's destructive function is not triggered on October 16, which is just like any other day. According to announcements made by a number of media sources, tomorrow, October 16, a new wave of incidences connected with the widespread, destructive, malicious Internet worm "SirCam" is supposed to...
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