Clinton Haines | |
---|---|
Born | 10 April 1976
Brisbane, Australia |
Died | 10 April 1997
Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia | (aged 21)
Nationality | Australian |
Other names | Harry McBungus TaLoN Terminator-Z |
Occupation | Hacker |
Clinton 'Clint' Haines (10 April 1976 – 10 April 1997) was an Australian computer hacker. He was also known as Harry McBungus, TaLoN and Terminator-Z. [1]
Haines attended Ipswich Grammar School. He wrote his first computer virus in assembly language using the A86 assembler in the early 1990s.
Haines was responsible for the viruses NoFrills, Dudley, [2] X-Fungus/PuKE, Daemaen and 1984. NoFrills infected the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). [3] It was described by anti-virus company manager Len Grooves as "totally unimpressive". Grooves added: "This is a very average virus...It could have been written by any first-year computer student. In fact, it had serious design faults and programming bugs. I would not hire the writer." [3] Nevertheless, the ATO decided to turn off all of its 15,000 computers until the virus was eradicated, to avoid the infection spreading. [4]
His virus Dudley also infected the computers of Telecom Australia), shutting down their system in two hours. [4] The Dudley virus was a variant of the No Frills code with the text [Oi Dudley!][PuKE].
Haines died from a heroin overdose in 1997, [5] [6] in Saint Lucia, Brisbane, [4] celebrating his 21st birthday. At the time of his death he was completing an undergraduate science degree in microbiology at the University of Queensland. [4] A computer virus was written in his honour (RIP Terminator-Z by VLAD). [1] The virus, named 'Memorial', pays acknowledgement to Haines by placing a message on an infected user's screen. [7]
Clinton Haines | |
---|---|
Born | 10 April 1976
Brisbane, Australia |
Died | 10 April 1997
Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia | (aged 21)
Nationality | Australian |
Other names | Harry McBungus TaLoN Terminator-Z |
Occupation | Hacker |
Clinton 'Clint' Haines (10 April 1976 – 10 April 1997) was an Australian computer hacker. He was also known as Harry McBungus, TaLoN and Terminator-Z. [1]
Haines attended Ipswich Grammar School. He wrote his first computer virus in assembly language using the A86 assembler in the early 1990s.
Haines was responsible for the viruses NoFrills, Dudley, [2] X-Fungus/PuKE, Daemaen and 1984. NoFrills infected the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). [3] It was described by anti-virus company manager Len Grooves as "totally unimpressive". Grooves added: "This is a very average virus...It could have been written by any first-year computer student. In fact, it had serious design faults and programming bugs. I would not hire the writer." [3] Nevertheless, the ATO decided to turn off all of its 15,000 computers until the virus was eradicated, to avoid the infection spreading. [4]
His virus Dudley also infected the computers of Telecom Australia), shutting down their system in two hours. [4] The Dudley virus was a variant of the No Frills code with the text [Oi Dudley!][PuKE].
Haines died from a heroin overdose in 1997, [5] [6] in Saint Lucia, Brisbane, [4] celebrating his 21st birthday. At the time of his death he was completing an undergraduate science degree in microbiology at the University of Queensland. [4] A computer virus was written in his honour (RIP Terminator-Z by VLAD). [1] The virus, named 'Memorial', pays acknowledgement to Haines by placing a message on an infected user's screen. [7]