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-
-
- O.K.! Has everyone read the
- Transactor-July 1985 Vol 6 Iss 5.Well
- as EVERYONE knows SEVERAL people of
- prominent stature have been BRAZENLY
- stating that the SAVE@ Bug was merely
- in the minds of some paranoid hackers.
- Several egged on by the lack of
- forthcomming evidence have begun
- offering PRIZES to ANYONE who can
- validate & DOCUMENT that the SAVE@ Bug
- is infact a REALITY! The challenge by
- The Transactor,the acceptance by
- Charlie Whittern & the subsequent
- publishing of the proof & the winning
- of the prize is what will be BRIEFLY
- stated here. The program to demonstrate
- the BUG will be uploaded this weekend.
- In order to meet the objections of the
- experts BEFORE using Save@ one MUST be
- sure that there is space on the disk
- for the program to be saved,that NO
- improperly closed files have been
- scratched,& that the drive # has been
- specified as in Save"@0:Prg Name",8:The
- ORIGINAL test disks all had over 300
- blocks free.No Improperly closed files
- had been scratched & the correct syntax
- was used.SAVE@ EXPOSED selects radomly
- from 5 of the prgs whose names have
- been placed in its data statements.Then
- using Dynamic Keyboard Techniques it
- loads the selected prg & Immed. saves
- it w/Replace.Another prg is then loaded
- & Saved w/Replace.The cycle continues
- until stopped by the operator.Sometimes
- a faulty replace occurs in just 1
- cycle.Often it takes longer. The
- Load/Save is shown on the screen as the
- prg runs.On paper make tally marks by
- Ea.Name as it comes by the screen.When
- each name has come by 5X stop & examine
- the Dir. USUALLY 2 or 3 of the prgs
- will have been improperly replaced &
- 1or2 will have been lost!....In order
- to check the results of the program
- thae transactor started w/10 files
- labeled Prg #1- Prg #10.Initially EACH
- had a file size of 11 blks.& each
- written to be EASILY identified.SAVE@
- EXPOSED was then modified to to include
- 10 filenames & saved to disk.It was
- then fired up & run for approx 10
- mins.Basic Aid was then loaded & each
- file was FLISTed(LISTed direct from
- disk to screen.Prg 2 was posing as Prg
- 4.Prg 4 was OK but 2 was gone! Not bad
- but not good!So then they got MEAN!Some
- files were increased & Saved@
-
- (UA RE T): ** (Part
- 2 of the SAVE@ EXPOSED MESSAGE)
- ** PROGRAM will be in the Disk
- Database** back to insure a good
- assortment of block counts showinin the
- dir. & the sector distribution good &
- mixed. After 30 min. the results were
- tabulated. YECHH! Of the 10 files 5
- were corrupted badly. Prg#1 became
- prg#4 2 became 7. 4 became 5. 7 became
- 9. And 9 became 1. Of these, only prg#4
- had its directorary links mixed up with
- another, prg#5. The others, though
- still posing under the same file, where
- true clones.'IT SEEMS WE HAVE A PROBLEM
- '. At this time, one bottle of
- champagne should be winging its way to
- a certain mailbox in Hudson,Mich. Our
- criteria was simply to prove a problem
- exists & tha t has obviously been
- shown!!!!!Although the problem is
- demonstrated here quite clearly the
- events leading up to its often
- unexpeded occurance in day to day
- activity is STILL a mystery. & Why does
- SAVE W/Replace SEEM to work on MOST
- occasions. A look through DOS ROM has
- shown that save w/replace is merely
- performing a Scratch after a Save
- followed by some very simple dir.
- updates. N E V E R T H E L E S S !The
- is NO LONGER ANY DOUBT about the
- POTENTIAL DANGER which means there MUST
- be SOMETHING going UNNOTICED!
- PERHAPS!?! those others who so
- Adamantly claim the bug is a myth might
- care to join in our search for the next
- LOGICAL question:W H Y??(& that
- INCLUDES YOU COMMODORE!) Transactor
- Articles & programs may be used &
- distributed as P.D. as long as Proper
- credit is given! Dallas Winston
-
- (UA RE T)