View source for Brain (computer virus)

{{short description|1986 IBM PC boot sector computer virus}}
{{redirect|Brain virus|viruses that affect the central nervous system|Central nervous system viral disease}}
{{Infobox software
| name            = Brain
| screenshot      = Brain-virus.jpg
| screenshot size = 300px
| caption         = The boot sector of an infected floppy
| other_names     = Ashar (older variant)
| released        = 19 January 1986
| genre           = [[Boot sector]] [[computer virus]]
| author          = Amjad Farooq Alvi
| platform        = [[IBM Personal Computer]], [[IBM PC compatible]]s
}}

'''Brain''' is the industry standard name for a [[computer virus]] that was released in its first form on 19 January 1986,<ref name="theregister">{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/19/pc_virus_at_20/|title=PC virus celebrates 20th birthday|last=Leyden|first=John|date=January 19, 2006|work=[[The Register]]|accessdate=March 21, 2011}}</ref> and is considered to be the first [[computer virus]] for the [[IBM Personal Computer]] (IBM PC) and compatibles.

== Description ==
Brain affects the PC by replacing the [[boot sector]] of a [[floppy disk]] with a copy of the virus. The real boot sector is moved to another sector and marked as bad. Infected disks usually have five [[kilobytes]] of bad sectors. The disk label is usually changed to ©Brain, and the following text can be seen in infected boot sectors:
:<kbd>Welcome to the Dungeon (c) 1986 Amjads (pvt) Ltd VIRUS_SHOE RECORD V9.0 Dedicated to the dynamic memories of millions of viruses who are no longer with us today - Thanks GOODNESS!!! BEWARE OF THE er..VIRUS : this program is catching program follows after these ....$#@%$@!!</kbd>
There are many minor and major variations to that version of the text. The virus slows down the [[floppy disk]] drive and makes seven kilobytes of memory unavailable to DOS. Brain was written by Amjad Farooq Alvi, who at the time lived in Chah Miran, near [[Lahore Railway Station]], in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]]. The Alvi brothers told ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine they had written it to [[Copy protection|protect their medical software]] from illegal copying, and it was supposed to target [[copyright infringement]] only.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968490,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214072232/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968490,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |title=Technology: You Must Be Punished |first1=Philip |last1=Elmer-Dewitt |first2=Ross H. |last2=Munro |date=September 26, 1988 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> The cryptic message "Welcome to the Dungeon", a safeguard and reference to an early programming forum on Dungeon BBS, appeared after a year because the brothers licensed a beta version of the code.  The brothers could not be contacted to receive the final release of this version of the program.

Brain lacks code for dealing with [[hard disk]] [[Disk partitioning|partitioning]], and avoids infecting hard disks by checking the most significant bit of the BIOS drive number being accessed. Brain does not infect the disk if the bit is set, unlike other viruses at the time, which paid no attention to disk partitioning and consequently destroyed data stored on hard disks by treating them in the same way as floppy disks. Brain often went undetected, partially due to this deliberate non-destructiveness, especially when the user paid little to no attention to the low speed of floppy disk access.

The virus came complete with address and three phone numbers, and a message that told the user that their machine was infected and to call them for inoculation:
:{{mono|Welcome to the Dungeon © 1986 Amjads (pvt). BRAIN COMPUTER SERVICES 730 NIZAM}}
:{{mono|BLOCK ALLAMA [[Iqbal Town, Lahore|IQBAL TOWN LAHORE-PAKISTAN]] PHONE: 430791,443248,280530. Beware of this VIRUS.... Contact us for vaccination...}}

This program was originally used to track a heart monitoring program for the IBM PC, and people were distributing illicit copies of the disks. This tracking program was supposed to stop and track illegal copies of the disk, however the program also sometimes used the last five kilobytes on an Apple floppy, making additional saves to the disk by other programs impossible.

== Author response ==
When the brothers began to receive a large number of phone calls from people in the [[United Kingdom]], the United States, and elsewhere, demanding that they disinfect their machines, they were stunned and tried to explain to the outraged callers that their motivation had not been malicious. Their phone lines were overloaded. The brothers, with another brother, Shahid Farooq Alvi, continued business in Pakistan, as Brain NET Internet service providers with a company called Brain Telecommunication Limited.

In 2011, 25 years after Brain was released, [[Mikko Hyppönen]] of [[F-Secure]] went to Pakistan to interview Amjad for a documentary.<ref name="usatoday">{{cite web|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/03/documentary-examines-the-inception-of-pc-viruses-25-years-ago/1|title=Documentary examines the inception of PC viruses 25 years ago|last=Acohido|first=Brian|date=March 8, 2011|publisher=[[USA Today]]|accessdate=March 9, 2011}}</ref><ref name="fsecure_minisite">{{cite web|url=http://campaigns.f-secure.com/brain/|title=Searching for the first PC virus in Pakistan|publisher=[[F-Secure]]|accessdate=March 21, 2011|archive-date=March 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316214210/http://campaigns.f-secure.com/brain|url-status=dead}}</ref> Being inspired by this documentary and its widespread popularity, a group of Pakistani bloggers interviewed Amjad, under the banner of Bloggerine.<ref>{{cite web|title=To The Roots Of PC Virus|url=http://exbloggerine.tumblr.com/post/79900591129/to-the-roots-of-pc-virus/|work=Bloggerine|date=March 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Pakistan}}
* [[Rootkit]]
* [[Timeline of computer viruses and worms]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.brain.net.pk/aboutus.htm |title=BrainNET website |accessdate=2004-05-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204133534/http://www.brain.net.pk/aboutus.htm |archivedate=2005-02-04 }}
*[http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/brain.shtml Description of (c)Brain at F-Secure site]
*{{YouTube|id=lnedOWfPKT0|title=Brain: Searching for the first PC virus in Pakistan}}
*[http://www.textfiles.com/virus/braininf.vir Information on the Brain Virus And Variants at textfiles.com]
*[[TED talk]] by [[Mikko Hyppönen]] [http://www.ted.com/talks/mikko_hypponen_fighting_viruses_defending_the_net Fighting viruses, defending the net]
*[http://materiaislamica.com/index.php/Pakistani_Brain_(IBM_MS-DOS_PC_Computer_Virus) Pakistani Brain (IBM MS-DOS PC Computer Virus) and its impact]

{{Hacking in the 1980s}}

[[Category:Boot viruses]]
[[Category:Pakistani inventions]]
[[Category:Information technology in Pakistan]]
[[Category:1986 in computing]]
[[Category:Hacking in the 1980s]]