"Chernobyl" will come on Monday
On Monday, computers are at risk of being attacked by another virus. It is called "Chernobyl" - both because of the degree of damage it can cause (erase all information on the hard drive, destroy the BIOS), and because it is activated on the anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

The new virus, officially called CIH or "space filler", was first spotted in Asia last summer. Since then, it “comes to the surface” on the 26th of every month. The CIH 1.2 variant, which will appear on Monday, is the "most dangerous and widespread" form of the virus, according to Sal Viveros, vice president of marketing at Network Associates Inc., a major computer security company.
According to experts, in terms of potential damage, “Chernobyl” surpasses even the “Melissa” and “Papa” viruses, which caused e-mail systems to crash in many countries around the world last month (Kommersant wrote about this).
The virus was dubbed the “space filler” because it was created using a special technology. Antivirus programs can detect many viruses because they take up additional space on the hard drive. “Chernobyl” hides in the empty code spaces of programs. The virus is embedded in programs running under the Windows 95 and Windows 98 operating systems.
Once activated, Chernobyl infects the computer startup program - BIOS. The affected computer simply does not turn on.
Experts suggest that on Monday, mainly home computers will be affected, into which the virus could have entered via the Internet, via e-mail and in pirated programs.
The "antidote" for the new virus can be downloaded from the Internet at the following addresses: http://www.nai.com/avertlabs and http://www.cert.org.
IYA Kommersant-MOTSKOBILI

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 70 dated April 24, 1999, p. 5