Natas (computer virus)
| Common name | Natas |
|---|---|
| Technical name | Natas |
| Type | Computer virus |
| Isolation | May 1992 |
| Point of origin | United States |
| Author(s) | James Gentile |
| Operating system(s) affected | DOS |
Natas (Satan spelled backwards) is a computer virus written by James Gentile, a then-18-year-old hacker from San Diego, California who went by the alias of "Little Loc" and later "Priest". The virus was made for a Mexican politician who wanted to win the Mexican elections by affecting all the Mexican Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) computers with a floppy disk.
Description
Natas is a memory-resident stealth virus and is highly polymorphic, that affects master boot records, boot sectors of diskettes, files .COM and also .exe programs.[1]
History
The virus first appeared in Mexico City in May 1992, spread by a consultant using infected floppy disks. The virus became widespread in Mexico and the southwest United States. The virus also made its way to the other side of the USA, infecting computers at the United States Secret Service knocking their network offline for approximately three days. This led to an investigation of Priest and incorrect suspicion that the virus specifically targeted government computers.
Natas also infected computers in Canada, England, Russian Federation and Brazil.