Interview with Nucleii
By Foxz
[September 1998]

Introduce yourself, your handle, life hobbies etc..

> Well, lets see. I'm 19, a full time student (15 credit hours) and a technology freak. My other hobby is music. A few years ago I was introduced into the whole "electronic dance" thing, then shortly after jungle and drum&bass. I have been addicted ever since. Something in me just clicked. One thing lead to another, I spent a few thousand bucks on records, started spinning, quit spinning, then picked up a few drum machines and so forth, and started producing shitty tracks =], but I love it. My handle is from the center of a cell, read up on your biology for more info.

Have you written viruses?

> Yes, a few.

How do you name your viruses?

> When I first started writing viruses, shitty .com overwriters, I just added random text strings in them, not really naming them. Now moving on to bigger and better things, I'm starting to depend on a payload for a name. I just finished a virus with a payload that looks like the interface for f-prot v3.. as a little message to the av, and a greeting to Fridrik. Inspired after he called me a "nit wit' in alt.comp.virus because I don't take computers seriously. Hence the name the frisk virus. Hell knows what caro is going to call it though. =] Now I'm working on an com/exe/sys infector that will display a conversation from a anime movie called "The Ghost in the Shell" when the conditions are correct.

Which programming languages do you know?

> My first and only programming language is assembly. I was learning assembler, the workings of a processor and memory, and viruses all at the same time. Learning asm was the best teacher, because it forces you to read and learn about what's going on inside that magic box.

When you start out in VX?

> I was infected with a strain of cascade when I first got a computer and internet access. I never scanned anything, and downloaded everything I saw.,heh ., so I'm not surprised it happened. Due to the whole cleaning process, and the thought of some damn file spread all over my hard disk on its own (err., well, sorta...) I was quickly finding myself downloading virus collections from everywhere. I discovered all the vx zines and tutorials, meet someone who knew asm, and the rest is history from there.

What your fav AV? and the reason ?

> F-prot, because for home use Fridrik does his shit for free. That is something that just doesn't happen too much anymore, and when it does happen the product is usually crap. Its a nice scanner, pretty fast, has decent heuristics, and offers a vdx monitor. The only downside is frisk software is a little slow with their updates, but hey, its free so you can only bitch but so much. I also run AVP on my system due to weekly updates that are made available, but it runs much slower on my system and I don't really like the interface, but hell, thats not important.,hehe.,

How about VX move in USA, tell Us

> Hmm,. that's a tough one. There is not much of a vx scene here in the states. I know a handful of other writers over here, none personally though. It just seems to me that 80 percent of the viruses writers that I know are currently active are not in the USA. That and the fact that virus writers in other parts of the world seem to be a little more in touch with each other. If someone ever tried to organize a meeting here most likely nobody would go.

Do you like a specific type of virus?

> Well, umm., I have always liked mbr infectors, I guess because I have never tried to write one cause I'm way too lame for that. File viruses are all I have really played with, and until I get another pc, I don't really want to start fucking around with my boot sector. I have a ton of non replaceable crap on my hd that I don't have backed up at the time. If I was better at programming then this would be a different story but the data on my hd is more important than testing a boot infector.., to me anyway,..

What do you think about destructive viruses?

> I think I don't really care. Its wrong to distroy others data. I have written harmful code in the past, but now try to avoid it. If I do add harmful code ever again, it will most likely only be towards floppies or something else worthless. We will just have to wait and see.

What's your opinion about wordmacro viruses?

> I never really liked them too much. They sure as hell sever their purpose in the days of ms word being everywhere. I just see them as being way too limiting. I enjoy having control over hardware, not just ms word.

What about virus generation kits and such?

> People that write them are crazy.,.hehe,. They seem like a pretty big task to create one, and I give much respect to that. I'm not sure how I feel about people using them. Most are crap and a handful are great learning tools. When I first started learning how to code 31337 com overwriters, Virtual Daemon's OVCK was a dream come true. It was almost better than reading all 100 million tutorials on the subject. I'm one of those people that learn by a "hands on" experience. So it helped me alot with getting basic technics down.

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

> Macro viruses you can only do but so much with, the same with hll. Like I said, they all serve their purpose (exploiting microsoft), and all have found their way into being very popular in the last part of this millennium.

Describe the perfect virus.

> No detection, No removal.

Should viruses be illegal?

> No, and they never will be in my country. It would rape my constituatnal rights as a US citizen. Even if they did pass some whacked out law like that, some crazy fucker would take it to the supreme court and have it fixed. People don't like being stripped of their rights, even if it could do better in the long run.

What are you think about sourceofkaos.com

> haha., I think I'm glad our server is owned by a really nice guy. Its nice to have a site hosted by an X-vx'er. I hope it stays around for a long, long time. Long Live jtr!

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

> That's another hard one. I have much respect for all the Vx'ers past and present. I like 29a, slam, the codebreakers, and the invaders. 29a (err., and a little from vlad..=]) has released alot of the much needed info on win32 infection, many new coding ideas, and quite a few very famous viruses. I love the newer SLAM team, and the issue 4 of the mag was just dope. The codebreakers are doing a great job as teachers. They started from the ground up, I highly recommend reading their mags in order to learn the art of virus programming. The invaders are going to go down in history if the ball ever gets rolling. Watch out guys! I also have much respect for anyone who supports Vx United past, present and future. I hope the project grows, and maybe one day out lives me. I really don't want to get started on individual writers because the list would be twice as long as this entire interview, and i always forget the important people. So to the virus writer young and old, Much Respect.

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

> Anyone who is creative. Anyone that is on the forefront of technology.

Are/were you a member of a VX group?

> No.

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

> Well, since hopefully someone will be reading this someday, I guess I would like to say:

1. Do what ever the hell you want to do no matter what anyone else has to say about it.
2. Be respectful of others opinions.
3. Enjoy your life, don't waste away and die regretting not accomplishing goals you had set for yourself. I sure as hell won't.

Where can you be reached if at all?

> nUcLeii01@hotmail.com
> http://www.sourceofkaos.com/homes/nucleii