Interview to NexusC by VirusBuster --------------------- - How old are you? Where do you come from? 20, Sweden - Why did you start collecting viruses? I got fascinated after i found various pages regarding viruses/malware and other undergrouns stuff. - For how long have you been collecting viruses? Don't really remember.. Might have been somewhere around 1997-98 i started but then i didn't have an organized collection or traded, it was mostly leeching all pages i found and put it all in a folder ;) I remember i had the whole collection saved on floppies. I had to split the zip to ~15 floppies. - Did you ever stop trading viruses and continued after a time? If yes, for how long were you inactive?, why did you stop?, why did you decide to continue? I stopped trading compleatly once after i had been on the top (or near it) since it sucked to only get ~5 files in every trade and maby 15 as most in a week so i got bored. The break might have been somewhere near 2 months or so but i got back when new traders came along and made it possible to make bigger trades once again. - What are your virus statistics actually? (AVP/F-Prot/... unique/total) 42345 virii for AVP/KAV 41321 unique virii for AVP/KAV - What antivirus do you usually use for making logs? Do you use any other antivirus from time to time? If yes, what are them? I only use KAV 4.5 for windows and AVP for dos. - Do the people near you (parents, friends, ...) know you collect viruses? Yes, everyone ;) - Do you consider necessary to avoid telling people you collect viruses? If yes, why? Well.. sometimes if u don't know that person well and his/hers opinions about the whole scene, because i've gotten some "bad critique" from a few ppl since they blame me for releasing viruses ITW just because i collect them and have them on my computer (uneducated ppl mostly). - Do you avoid trading with any collector? If yes, who and what are the reasons? I'm usually a bit careful when trading with new traders since one fa**ot ripped me off but other than that I usually trade with anyone. But i mostly trade with *fast* traders or on IRC since that's usually the fastest way to do a trade on :P - Is there any virus collector that you admire for any reason? If yes, who and what are the reasons to admire him? Hmm.. Phage, since he helped me alot when i was new and the ones with very large collection :P - Did you ever work for an antivirus company? Nope. - Did you ever trade with an antivirus company or an antivirus researcher? Don't think so ;) - Do you keep stuff that you can not/do not want to trade? Some files i've gotten as nosends before i don't trade, but most of them are pub now anyway. - Did you ever exchange your complete virus collection with other collector? I have done that with SnowBlaze and SaTaNiC0 once and i would have with yello if he wasn't such a bastard! *jk* ;) - In your opinion, what is the best and what is the worst antivirus scanner? Why? Not sure, haven't looked into other AV's that much. - What is the program you use to process logs? VS2000 - What is the program you use to rename files? RenExts and VS2000 - What is the program you use to sort your collection? Bulk2 and VS2000 - Do you check for fake viruses? If yes, what is the program you use for doing that? Yes, Fakescan - Do you use any additional program for doing any virus collecting task? If yes, what are those programs and what they do? DupeFiles - Dupescanning - How is your collection sorted and stored? Do you keep viruses compressed or uncompressed? What is the directory structure? Strored uncompressed on the HDD using Bulk structure and crc32 names. - Do you make backups of your collection? If yes, How often and what is the media you use to make backups? I back up the folder wich contains all the latest files i've gotten. But i don't make a backup of it before it fills a whole 700mb cd packed with the best RAR-compression ;) After the backup is done i move all files in the folder to the regular bulk dirs. (I burn with Nero) - Did you used to use VS2000 package tools before it became viriiware? If yes, what is your opinion about the change from freeware to viriiware?, Did you continue using VS2000 package tools after the change? I used vs2k before it became viriiware and since u now have to contribute for it i think everyone who has contributed should be able to get a free update if any bugs are found in that version. I still use vs2k, but i think it's getting more and more stuff that really don't belong in the tool. - What is your opinion about the viriiware? Both good and bad ;) - Your greetings, if any, go here: To all traders and ppl who know me in te scene (and outside).