Whale (computer virus)

<h2 id="description">Description</h2>
<p>After the file becomes resident in the system memory below the <a href="/facts/Conventional_memory/hLcfWzlB">640K DOS boundary</a>, system slow-down occurs as a result of the virus' <a href="/facts/Polymorphic_code/WSRdywB4">polymorphic code</a>. Symptoms include <a href="/facts/Flicker_(screen)/kLEtqjJs">video flicker</a> and output to screen appearing very slowly.  Files may seem to "hang" even though they will eventually execute correctly.
</p><p>It was reported that one infected program displayed the following message when run:
</p>

<p>             THE WHALE IN SEARCH OF THE 8 FISH
             I AM '~knzyvo}' IN HAMBURG addr error D9EB,02
</p>

<p>Shifting the letters of "~knzyvo}" left in the <a href="/facts/ASCII/vGUI33Qu">ASCII</a> table by 10 characters turns the string into "tadpoles".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Computer_virus/IyTC1usq">Computer virus</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Comparison_of_computer_viruses/kNhh0Qb5">Comparison of computer viruses</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_1383.htm">McAfee Virus Description</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/whale.shtml">F-Secure Virus Description</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Solomon, Alan (2012). PC Viruses: Detection, Analysis and Cure. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 250. ISBN 978-1447110316. <a href="978-1447110316" target="_blank">978-1447110316</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Whale (computer virus) open-in-new

Whale (computer virus)