Summary
Found in August 1998, StrangeBrew was the first virus to infect Java files. It is unable to infect or spread from Java applets which are executed over the internet. However, it is able to spread from Java applet or application to another if executed locally.
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
StrangeBrew virus does not create new .class files, it searches for existing .class files and modifies them to include a copy of itself. When the "infected" .class file is executed, the virus gets control and then passes control to the original code in the file.
When run, StrangeBrew searches the current directory for .class files. It includes it's own code into the host .class files and modifies them to start the execution from the virus part. Virus adds call to it's own code as the first line of host constuctor or main method. The infector routine in StrangeBrew is rather buggy, and most of the time doesn't infect host corretly, breaking the host.
Being Java based virus the StrangeBrew is capable of executing in almost any platform that has Java runtime environment installed. The virus is capable of executing on Windows and Linux platforms and in PDA devices which have Java runtime installed.
StrangeBrew does not do anything else except spread. As such, it can not be considered a realistic threat. It has not been found in the wild.
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