Virus Encyclopedia
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Austral | |
Threat Level Damage Distribution |
 |
Common name: | Austral |
Technical name: | Joke/Austral |
Threat level: | Low |
Type: | Joke |
Effects: | It rotates the Windows Desktop and displays it upside down. |
Affected platforms:
|
Windows 2003/XP/2000/NT/ME/98/95 |
First detected on: | Sept. 8, 2003 |
Detection updated on: | Oct. 2, 2003 |
Statistics | No |
Brief Description | |
Austral is a joke type malware. These harmless programs display fake error messages on screen warning about the execution of destructive actions, fake these actions or change the mouse or screen settings. To be more precise, Austral rotates the Windows Desktop and displays it upside down. To stop the effects of this joke and return to normal work, the user must push any of the mouse buttons. |
Visible Symptoms | |
Austral is easy to recognize, as it displays the following message on screen:

Then, Austral rotates the Windows Desktop and displays it upside down. |