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Cascade (computer virus)

DOS computer virus and malware

Field	Value
name	Cascade
screenshot	Herbstlaub-virus-screenshot.jpg
screenshot size	300px
caption	The payload Cascade displays on an infected system
other_names	Herbstlaub
released	1980s
genre	Computer virus, malware
programming language	Assembly language
author	Unknown
platform	IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC compatibles
operating_system	DOS
replaced_by	Cascade-17Y4

The Cascade virus (also known as Herbstlaub, "autumn leaves" in Germany) is a prominent computer virus that was a resident written in assembly language, that was widespread in the 1980s and early 1990s. It infected .COM files and made text on the screen cascade (fall) down and form a heap at the bottom of the screen. It was notable for using an encryption algorithm to avoid being detected. However, one could see that infected files had their size increased by 1701 or 1704 bytes. In response, IBM developed its own antivirus software.

The virus has several variants. Cascade-17Y4, which is reported to have originated in Yugoslavia, is almost identical to the most common 1704-byte variant; however, one byte has been changed, possibly due to a random mutation, causing a bug in the virus. Another mutated variant that infects the same file repeatedly is also known.

References

F-Secure Computer Virus Information Pages: Cascade

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

dos-file-viruses hacking-in-the-1980s

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