Interview with Tally
by Foxz / No Mercy
[September 1998]

I know this guys just new, about 2 week ago, his page really damn good he collect all VX page (over 100 link), and most of the URL are work fine damn! he is really crazy!. 

From:"xxxxxxx x Talixxxxx" <talli@ponyexpress.net>
To:<foxz.intruder@xxx.go.id>
Subject:  Re: Questionz
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 06:48:59 -0500

Introduce your self, your handle, life hobbies etc..

I am a virus collector primarily here in cyberland.  My handle is Tally.  In real life I am currently going to graduate school.  I enjoy camping, programming, wood working, playing with my kids.  I program primarily in Turbo Pascal and Clipper right now.  I used to write in Clipper for a living.  I have worked as a programmer, technician, purchaser and salesman of computers.  It was a toss up between programming and tech work for me.  I started out on a Timex Sinclair computer on my TV, as well as mainframes, then on to an IBM PC with no hard drive.  Oh, yeah, and a radio shack TRS-80 or something.

Have you written viruses?

I'd better say no.  I studied virii for a while.  Wrote one that scanned as tiny.  So that tells you what little virii coding skill I have.

How do you name your viruses?

Terrible 1, Terrible 2 (GRIN).

Which programming languages do you know?

Turbo Pascal, Clipper, Basic, Fortran, UCSD Pascal, Assembler (looked at COBOL for a while and got sick), even did a little machine level coding on some other systems.

When you start out in VX?

I'm not exactly sure.  I mean, you don't just wake up one morning and say "Hey, my life's dream is to be a virus collector."  I used to run a BBS, back when one to one dial up was meaningful.  I gathered a few virii then, from incoming uploads.  My first virus was when some form of vienna or Jerusalem hit me back in 1989.  Around 1993 or so a friend gave me a hundred or so virii.  That really gave me the bug (snicker).

What your fav AV? and the reason ?

Well, I like F-Prot because it has the greatest delineation of names.  In my collection, DrSol detects more.  Yet AVP is fast and is catching a lot of new ones lately.  I'd say F-Prot seems the most geared toward virii collectors.  Besides the DOS version is free.

What your view about CIH Virus

I haven't studied it all that much.  I have a copy.  It sounds like a pretty well written piece of code.  My hat is off to the author!

Do you like a specific type of virus?

I like tsr polymorphic stealth virii that do sneaky things rather than just destroy something.  You know, like make the screen wiggle once a month.  I am impressed by virii that avoid detection in memory, don't use DOS interrupts.  I also thought virii that show a picture were cool.

What do you think about destructive viruses?

I think I want them not to be active on my machine.  I don't see any reason for the destructive type of virii.  Virii that work toward more widespread infection across the cyberworld are much more impressive.  You know, like ones that use your internet connection to spread.  That's science fiction kind of stuff.

What's your opinion about wordmacro viruses?

At first I wasn't too impressed.  After all, we were suddenly back to writing in BASIC.  But then they got more  sofisticated.  Macro dropper virii that drop a DOS or windows virii are pretty neat.  Of course, MACRO virii take advantage of a problem in Windows Apps.  Anyone that forces MS to refine their product is a great help! 

What about virus generation kits and such?

It is a nice way to add a couple hundred virii to your collection.  But it doesn't seem to have much point anymore.  I still collect them, as the programming of some is interesting.  But the batch language generators that just call TASM and TLINK are silly.  Doesn't everyone already have batch systems to collect, compile and analyse incoming virii ASM files anyway?

What is your view on macro viruses vs. assembly or HLL viruses?

I much prefer assembly virii.  I like the tightness of the code and the crunch of the size.  Assembly language programming has always impressed me. I have seen some HLL virii.  I was impressed by one in Turbo Pascal that claimed not to use assembly includes.  That was cool.  And macro virii take advantage of a hole.  But assembly code is my favorite.

Describe the perfect virus.

The perfect virus should be polymorphic, stealth, tsr, use internet connections for spreading, no destructive functions, anti-AV methods and should report back through internet of its progress.  And it should automatically seek out virii collectors and add itself to their collections.

Should viruses be illegal?

If viruses were illegal, then only criminals would have viruses.

What are you think about sourceofkaos.com

They invited me right in and gave me a spot for my page.  My previous site was having speed problems or I'd get no connection at all.  Source of Kaos has great speed and offers me more space if I need it.  Also, I have virii oriented neighbors.  Oh, and we can put up virii binaries if we want.  Great place!

Which individual or what group do you like/respect in the VX world?

Wow, there are so many people at work out there.  I like what Codebreakers are doing.  Their site is great.  VirusBuster and Cicatrix are fellow collectors.  They both have great collections - I have traded with them. And all the virii authors - I couldn't list all for fear of forgetting one. But I am really impressed by their work.  I really appreciate those that write Zines too.

Which individual or what group do you like/respect out the VX world?

Pink Floyd.  Awesome group.  Oh, did you mean AVers?  Well, so few of them can play guitar like David Gilmour...

Are/were you a member of a VX group?

No, my old and rusty programming skills will keep me out of that realm.  And I don't have time to do that much.

This space is for you, just write what ever you like (no Space limit)

Hmmm.  Well, I might mention that I am working on a program called Virus Keeper.  It does some of what virsort does.  But VK seeks to be a complete virii collection management system.  It handles virii from download to addition to the collection (or deletion of extras).  It provides multiple indexes, browsing the collection, exporting virii to send to friends, statistics, reports, and will clean your car for you.  If virsort adds much functionality I may dump the project though - virsort is good and is widely used.

I put up a trading page on my site.  Go to http://www.coderz.net/tally  and see if we can trade.  I am primarily a virii collector and would love to trade!  Virii are easy to find, don't take up much shelf space and do not rot or mold.

I was really disappointed to hear the reactions that Cicatrix got on his page and for VDAT.  His work was wonderful and a real help to collectors. Too bad people didn't realize it.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, visit his page.

As a collector and running my link page, I am really tired of downloads that point to somebody else's site.  I realize that space is at a premium, but what's the point?  I'd rather check a page and find one virus that you wrote than  a thousand downloads from someone else's page.  Oh, yeah, and I miss Chiba City Blues and ILF!

Finally, to all the VX people out there - collectors, authors, groups, webmasters - thanx to all of you.  You make virii collecting a fun hobby.  I enjoy the environment and the culture.  I also appreciate the chance to meet folks from other countries.  You all keep up the good work!

Where can you be reached if at all?

http://www.coderz.net/tally
That's my virii link reference page. Stop in and say hello!