Classification

Category :

Malware

Type :

Virus

Aliases :

Baboon

Summary

Baboon is a boot sector virus with some special functions in it.

It infects the boot sector of floppy disks and MBRs (Master Boot Record) of hard disks. Baboon does not save the original boot sector or MBR anywhere. The virus searches for the active boot sector in the MBR data area, reads the active boot sector and gives control to it. Thus it keeps the general functionality of the MBR code.

Removal

Based on the settings of your F-Secure security product, it will either move the file to the quarantine where it cannot spread or cause harm, or remove it.

A False Positive is when a file is incorrectly detected as harmful, usually because its code or behavior resembles known harmful programs. A False Positive will usually be fixed in a subsequent database update without any action needed on your part. If you wish, you may also:

  • Check for the latest database updates

    First check if your F-Secure security program is using the latest updates, then try scanning the file again.

  • Submit a sample

    After checking, if you still believe the file is incorrectly detected, you can submit a sample of it for re-analysis.

    Note: If the file was moved to quarantine, you need to collect the file from quarantine before you can submit it.

  • Exclude a file from further scanning

    If you are certain that the file is safe and want to continue using it, you can exclude it from further scanning by the F-Secure security product.

    Note: You need administrative rights to change the settings.

Technical Details

When the PC is booting from an infected floppy, the virus will also read the active boot sector from the hard drive and give control to it. No error message like "non-system disk" will be displayed and the PC will boot directly from the hard disk.

Baboon activates both randomly and on the 11th of September. At this time it overwrites the MBR of the hard drive and the first 9 sectors of the active partition. As a result the PC will not boot.

Baboon was reported to be in the wild in September 1997, but does not seem to be really common.