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The Sirkus Frequently Asked Questions List
Please read these before e-mailing me with complaints/questions.

- What is this site all about?

This site was built to scratch a small part of an itch. There are people in this world who are driven constantly by an unquenchable desire to know how technology systems work from top to bottom. Some nights, we can't sleep because we're following a line of thought leading to something lower level, or intertwining higher level systems to work to together in a way never seen before. Many times, these things we seek after are small, minute details... so small most people would never think to look for - not to mention ever want to learn about. These leagues of tiny things we discover build on each other until there is a mastery to an unusual depth in one particular field. Then we move to another.... If we were to compile all of these bits of info, we would fill countless books, thousands of web pages. That would be too much work for one person. On the other hand, if everyone shared a bit of knowledge, or a volume of insight and made it freely available, we might come close. This site simply shares a bit. Whatever itches.

- Is this a hacker site? / Where are the w1c|<3d scripts d00d? / Where are the cool hacker tools?

There is a huge observable chasm between the hacker and the so-prevalent script kiddie. These two different audiences have different goals and different needs. The hacker's desire is to learn the inter-workings of systems. The script kiddie's goal is not knowledge and insight, but only the resulting power. For this reason, I will say right now that script kiddies will not enjoy this site in the least. The site caters to people who want to learn about how things work - not to do the work for you. So in the sense of hacking, no, this is not a "how-to-hack-computers" web site. There is a huge difference between those who are fascinated by the theory behind a well crafted buffer overflow, and those who e-mail me saying "make this work for me, I need to trash this d00dz system." The documents here are not about getting the right outcome for you, they're for people who want to challenge themselves by grappling with difficult concepts until they can wrap their minds around it and make it second nature. (I hate to be so freekin repetitive, but the e-mails are redundant enough that I've had to over-clarify.)

- Why do you have virus coding tutorials on your site?

First of all, read "What is this site all about." (With that in mind read on.) I am fascinated by viruses. I do not admire the destructive qualities associated with most computer viruses, but I admire their sense of survival and life. Viruses are designed as tiny artificial life entities. They take on properties and characteristics and they have a way of propagating and surviving terrible odds. Some are surprisingly simple, others are complex and highly creative. As a coder, I find it amazing to learn concepts that can be used to create autonomous programs that, once they are set loose, they can "live" and go do their own thing. Viruses are an intellectual pursuit in low-level programming of a-life or artificially intelligent autonomous programs. The virus related documents on this site discuss many basic and advanced techniques used in code to enable a virus with different abilities and properties. I'm not interested in nasty payloads (i.e. destructive outcomes such as killing drives, etc...), so don't ask me to give you a killer virus that will trash your school comp sci lab.

- Will you teach me how to write a virus?

No. That's what the docs are for. That's why I put them here so you can read them and learn. If you don't want to read and learn, then you won't learn how to create a virus. In fact, if you don't want to study about how viruses work, you should stay away from them because you'll probably just hurt yourself.

- How do I turn these .ASM files into a real virus? / Where are the "live" viruses?

If you read anything above, you know that the goal of this site is to help you learn about how things work... not to make things work for you. The ASM files contain the source code for viruses. These files let you look at how each virus operates and learn from them. If these were live virus executables, then you wouldn't be able to inspect them and learn from them on my site. When you have learned what the virus does, then you can assemble them using your favorite assembler, which will convert them into a format suitable for execution by a machine. If you don't know what an assembler is or what it does, you probably shouldn't be here unless you want to learn. There are many assembly language tutorials on the web, and many assembler how-to books available at your local book store or library. For starters, I've put together an Assembly Language Resources page with tutorials and links to good info and tools to get you started. Obviously, if you don't know assembly language, the source code files will do you no good anyway, so here's your excuse to go learn a some low-level programming.

- I don't know assembly language, can I program viruses in Q basic, or pascal, or C++?

Learn assembly language. (Check out the Assembly Resources page.) There is a possible time and place for higher-level languages when coding viruses (like maybe C), but 99% of all real viruses will be largely assembly language. And no... no Q basic.

- But what about VBS (visual basic script) viruses or Word Macro viruses? Aren't they viruses?

[Okay, I've deleted the long explanation because it just caused more flames. Here's the direct version.]
Visual Basic Scripts, Word Macros, or anything else written in VBA (visual basic for applications) are malicious scripts, which this virus site isn't particularly interested in. I don't want to hear any more flames about this. I'm not denying that there are many dedicated script writers who can be very creative when exploiting Micro$oft's naivety. But the purpose of this site's virus section is to discuss low-level computer viruses that operate at an opcode level. If you're fascinated by what a VBS e-mail worm did, great... but that's a script worm. If you want to write that in assembly and let it become a viable virus entity on it's own, then you're getting what this site is about. But no, I don't have any scripts or macros. If I started dealing with those, I feel that I would also have to create an archive of creative UNIX shell scripts and DOS batch files that had names like "ClickMe.bat" or "Hey_Root_Run_Me.sh" ...not what I'm interested in. Yes many people argue with me about this... I get enough e-mails about it. Call me a purist, or whatever, but please don't send more flames about it.

- "Will you write me a virus in HTML?"

Leave now.

- What platforms do the viruses on your site target? / I can't find the XX virus, why don't you have it?

The viruses on this site are primarily legacy viruses that target the Intel/DOS platform. Yes, there are great and interesting viruses for other platforms out there. The virus repository on this site was only meant to give examples to look at while working through some tutorials, or to learn from on your own. I never intended on housing an end-all repository of every virus in existence. If you have the source code to a virus that you think is particularly interesting or famous, then send it to me and I will include it in the repository. (No binaries please, just source. See "Where are the live viruses?").

- Who are you? / Are you "Dark Angel" or "Rock Steady", etc...?

I am sirkus. I make no official affiliation with my name and other people/groups. Please do not e-mail me requests for Dark Angel or any of the other people who wrote tutorials that are on this site. These people are not associated with this web site, I simply have their tutorials in my library because they contain valuable information.

- Who is the webmaster of this site?

My name is sirkus, and I no longer actively maintain this web site. I originally built the site in 1996, and it became somewhat popular in certain coding circles. I quit updating it, but it seemed that people wouldn't let me shut it down. So now it exists primarily as an archive library...still very relevant. I do occasionally make changes, but rarely. If I make any additions or changes, it will most likely happen in the coding section. If for some reason you need to "contact the webmaster" about problems with the site, you can send e-mail to sirkus@sirkussystem.com