Windows Vista Virus Just a Shell Game (Danom is just a Monad Nomad)   - 2,191 Views,

Microsoft’s new operating system, Vista, was barely out in beta when security company F-Secure advised that an Austrian going by the nickname of “Second Part to Hell” had already written a Vista virus. F-Secure has dubbed the new virus “Danom”.

The problem is that Danom is not really a Vista virus. In fact, the Windows technology after which Danom goes (and after which it is named) is Monad, which is Microsoft’s codename for their Microsoft Shell (MSH). (Get it? “Danom” is “Monad” backwards.)

A shell is essentially a text-based command line interface to the computer. It allows one to communicate more directly with the computer, rather than going through the operating system’s (usually graphical) interface. For the highly geekified, using a command shell is akin to sitting down and speaking directly with someone in another language, as compared to speaking to them only through a mechanical interpreter with a limited vocabulary from which to choose your words. If you are uncomfortable with the language, the interpretor may be just fine, but if you are fluent in the language, there will be times that you’ll find the interpretor frustratingly limited and limiting.

Windows has always been somewhat lacking in the shell department, and Microsoft’s new Microsoft Shell, Monad, is intended to change that.

However, Monad is not Vista. And it is Monad which the Danom virus affects. Moreover, some security experts are saying that Danom isn’t even really a Monad virus; it’s a variation on a plain old garden variety shell attack, using the same attack method one would with any shell, not the Microsoft shell in particular.

Now, it may be true that Microsoft had been planning to include Monad (Microsoft Shell) with Vista. But as early as in June, Microsoft indicated that Monad would not ship with Vista. And now they are saying that it definitely won’t.

So, it looks as if Danom is just a Monad Nomad.