NationStates Jolt Archive

1:"Shitake Mushrooms taste good on a Saturday Morning."
0:"But not if they're poisoned..."
1:"Who comes up with these meetings phrases?"
0:"I don't know..."
1:"They get stupider every time, I tell ya'..."
0:"I'm ready to jack in to the network."
1:"Sure, whatever. Look, I don't know much about computers, I'm just here to make sure nobody shoots you."
0:"They think I'm a Chinese woman."
1:"What?"
0:"Sally Yi, my assistant, made all the calls, and she was the one that met with all your people before. They'll be searching for her here."
1:"Huh. You're pretty good, throwing them off like that."
0:"Whoever they are."
1:"Heh. Good one."
0:"Do you want to know what she does?"
1:"Huh?"
0:"Do you want to know what she does? The virus?"
1:"Oh, sure, I guess...But don't expect me to understand everything."
0:"Don't worry. It's quite simple."
1:"Okay, Shoot."
0:"I have my laptop infected with Upsilon Pandora. When I connect to the net, my homepage will become infected."
1:"You can do that!?"
0:"I have spent eleven years in University, along with another six perfecting Upsilon Pandora."
1:"Whoa..."
0:"Anyways, when the someone else sees the homepage, their computer is infected. When they visit another site, that site becoes infected."
1:"Okay, but what does the virus DO to the websites?"
0:"Nothing. The websites channel the virus, but are not affected in any way. The computer that visits an infected website will become infected itself, freeze, and never come back on."
1:"Ever?"
0:"Not if Upsilon Pandora is perfect, which it is."
1:"What about Anti-Virus Software?"
0:"Useless. Upsilon Pandora sends itself out every six nanoseconds, so when Anti-Virus Software catches it and destroys it, by the next time it sends it out, Upsilon Pandora will have adapted."
1:"Adapted?"
0:"Yes. Upsilon Pandora is constantly changing, so that every time it appears, it is entirely different. Therefore, for every computer, a unique solution would be needed. However, the virus will not show up as detected on Virus Software, because it will be tricked into thinking that it's nothing. And when UP comes around a second time, the computer will be uniquely infected. The computer will then appear to 'freeze', but when someone tries to turn it back on again, all they will get is this:"

0 switched the power on his laptop off. He had been visiting every type of site imaginable, from Playboy to AOL to NBC to Google. On the screen, as soon as he had pressed the power button again, were the words:

UPSILON PANDORA/BOOTDISK.EXE/VPR_ESC.ERROR_

Within seconds, computer screens all over the world were flashing the same message.

Couldn't I just flash my ROM and reformat my HDD?

Couldn't I just flash my ROM and reformat my HDD?

No! All your computer are belong to us! Well, no one, really...but millions will be pissed off! Mwahahahahaha! Seriously, this is supposed to be a big RP thing...

Again, if we got that virus, we would just flash our ROMs and reformat our Hard Drives.

Salek Sentinal
October 10, 2003


PC USERS STRUCK BY MYSTERIOUS VIRUS; MILITARY COMPUTERS OK

At 6PM today in Salek, Nokgor, and all around Alvarezistan, hundreds of thousands of personal computers have become infected with what authorities are referring to as the 'Upsilon Pandora' bug.

Technical support helplines became flooded with calls as personal computer froze up and refused to work after previously operating without any problems. Callers almost universally described their problem as their computer freezing moments after going onto the internet, and displaying the error message UPSILON PANDORA/BOOTDISK.EXE/VPR_ESC.ERROR_ when rebooted.

Computers everywhere have been affected, but personal devices are the most vulnerable. Even machines used by the government have become affected, as workers at Resource Distribution Centers reported their PCs going offline. "Luckily, we back up our data on hard disk," said one affected worker. "We're just going to sit tight and wait for an advisory of some kind, but these goods will get where they're going even if we have to figure this out with pencil and papers."

Advisories from Salek urge computer users not to panic and to shut off their machines until advised to do otherwise. "If you are to turn on your computers," the warning read, "disconnect from any networks or internet connections and do not open any websites."

"On analysis of the data we've collected on this attack seems to suggest the virus is passed by viewing particular websites infected with the virus, rather than by email or other methods," said Internal Security Bureau spokesperson Isabella Francisco. "Computers should be unaffected if they remain disconnected from infected computers and refrain from connecting to the internet. It's thought that the virus mutates as it spreads to bypass anti-virus software; we're working on analysing common features of each virus that don't or can't change as they spread. Once we've found that, we're one step closer to a quick fix."

A military spokesman made clear that its own computers were doing fine. "The kind of machines we use are protected behind redundant levels of high-tech firewalls, and our machines don't usually browse the sights the infections seem to be stemming from. Any planned operations will continue as normal."

Estimates of the virus' effects on infrastructure vary wildly and cannot be confirmed.

-
-

Salek was in a deep freeze. And a quarter of the city had no power to speak of.

The West District of the administrative capital, compromising nearly %25 of Salek's 3 million people, had gone completely dark. To top things off, it was the middle of a snowstorm. The winds outside howled and shrieked like banshees, tearing at exposed flesh with icy fingers, and a half meter of snow crunched underneath traveler's feet.

Lt. Daniel Spanburg had the luck to be out in the middle of it. Though he was not an Alvar native, the heavy fur-lined hooded greatcoat almost felt like traditional garb for him. His family had fled here as refugees when the country opened its borders, fleeing some nameless terror or another; he was too young to remember, and his parents didn't like to talk about it. The only thing distinguishing him from the citizen on the street (if anyone was foolish enough to be on it) was the red armband and the brass star on his fur hat; otherwise, his cold weather gear was almost identical to the average persons.

Yet another one of the disadvantages of police work in Salek; everyone wore these or similar greatcoats and facemasks of some sort or another during the winter months. Those that didn't want parts to fall off from frostbite, anyway. Identifying suspects was one of the most difficult parts of the job, but today he wasn't out to chase hit and runs or muggers (which he didn't see much of; mugging isn't as profitable as perps would like when you've living in a mostly cashless Communist state, but you still got the occasional dimwit holding up some pedestrian for their valuables).

Instead, he and the rest of his patrol has been assigned to head down to the West District and pick up civilians. They were to bring them wherever there was warmth to be found; police stations and armories, military bases, schools, hospitals, offices, whatever. The electronic attacks had left one of Salek's two dedicated power plants down, knocking out a chunk of the city's power grid. Luckily it was the coal burning plant, one of the last left in the country, and not the experimental Resi-built plasma generator. Were that the case, the police would be cramming over 2 million people in a space meant for half that, rather than vice-versa. The attack must have been really bad to have an evac ordered; they wouldn't do it unless a solution wasn't in sight.

Spanburg guessed that the power outage left the Salek Sentinal out of power as well. No wonder the damn thing was so useless and out of date.

The APC he and his patrol were assigned to rumbled along the deserted street. As luck would have it, it was turret duty day for the Lt., and he was forced to expose himself to the elements. The vehicle they were driving in was a next generation police APC/riot control vehicle, with composite armor, sonic disrupter, area denial heat laser.. all sorts of nifty gear. Why he himself was still stuck with an old-shool MP5 was beyond him. But for room, it had been stripped down to just the 20mm cannon (loaded with bean-bags) and the tear gas launcher.

"Hey guys! How much longer? I'm freezing my ass off up here."

"Don't worry, sir! We're coming up on it now," came the shout from below.

"How can you tell?"

"Uhh, the mob?"

Spanburg could see maybe half as far as the sergeant in the front, since he had yet to slip on his infra-red goggles. But it wasn't long before he saw what he was referring to. A long line of dark, indistinct shapes were visible through the dense snow, huddled in doorways and alleys, apparently pre-informed of the relief convoy's arrival. Spanburg motioned for the vehicles behind him to stop, and yelled at the driver to put on the breaks. Now came the hard part, martialing this mob in an organized manner and getting them safely loaded up. He raised his bullhorn to his lips and spoke up so the crowd could hear. "My name is Lieutenant Daniel Spanburg. This area is not safe. We're here to help you and bring you somewhere away from here and out of the storm. Please line up in an orderly fashion for bording. Familes should try to remain together and onboard the same vehicle if they want to end up in the same shel.."

He stopped and put down the bullhorn. No one was moving. Not one of the vague, indistinct silhouettes made the slightest motion towards the transports. It was then the lieutenant noticed that his crew was deathly silent as well.

"Sergeant, what the fuck are these peop-"

"Sir.. goggles. Now."

Spanburg lifted the infrared goggles to his eyes.

Fortunatly for his comrade's morale, he did not have the prescence of mind to scream.

OOC: More to come. I'm going to develop it into something big, I just need a moment to figure out EXACTLY where I'm going with it.

Got it, Alvar. BTW, this is not a Galdanian government thing, in case you wanted to know.