AntiCMOS (computer virus)
Encyclopedia
AntiCMOS is a boot virus. Its first discovery was at Lenart
, Slovenia
, which led to its alias of Lenart. It was isolated in Hong Kong
several times at the beginning of 1994, but did not become common until it spread to North America
in the Spring of 1995. AntiCMOS is a fairly standard boot virus, and is primarily notable for being one of the few DOS
viruses to remain in the wild as of 2005.
AntiCMOS is so named because it has the intended effect of erasing all CMOS
information. This does not occur because of a bug in the virus code. This is true of all AntiCMOS variants that have appeared in the wild. The payload date of December 1993 and the obsolete nature of these variants makes it very unlikely that AntiCMOS's payload will ever be a threat.
Lenart
For the Lenart Elementary School, see Lenart Regional Gifted Center.For the computer virus known as Lenart, see AntiCMOS.Lenart is a small town and municipality in northeastern Slovenia. The municipality of Lenart has just over 11,000 inhabitants and the town itself has around 4,000. It is...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, which led to its alias of Lenart. It was isolated in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
several times at the beginning of 1994, but did not become common until it spread to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the Spring of 1995. AntiCMOS is a fairly standard boot virus, and is primarily notable for being one of the few DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
viruses to remain in the wild as of 2005.
AntiCMOS is so named because it has the intended effect of erasing all CMOS
Nonvolatile BIOS memory
Nonvolatile BIOS memory refers to a small memory on PC motherboards that is used to store BIOS settings. It was traditionally called CMOS RAM because it used a low-power Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor SRAM powered by a small battery when system power was off...
information. This does not occur because of a bug in the virus code. This is true of all AntiCMOS variants that have appeared in the wild. The payload date of December 1993 and the obsolete nature of these variants makes it very unlikely that AntiCMOS's payload will ever be a threat.