This virus was written in 1986, which makes it one of the oldest viruses in existence. It was written by R. Burger, the author of "Computer Viruses: A High-Tech Disease". It is not a threat in unmodified form, as the virus makes it quite clear that the program has been infected. Virdem overwrites the first part of the program and appends the original code to the end of the file. Two similar variants of this virus are known - one with all the text strings in German, but the other is an English language version.
Based on the settings of your F-Secure security product, it will either move the file to the quarantine where it cannot spread or cause harm, or remove it.
A False Positive is when a file is incorrectly detected as harmful, usually because its code or behavior resembles known harmful programs. A False Positive will usually be fixed in a subsequent database update without any action needed on your part. If you wish, you may also:
Check for the latest database updates
First check if your F-Secure security program is using the latest updates, then try scanning the file again.
Submit a sample
After checking, if you still believe the file is incorrectly detected, you can submit a sample of it for re-analysis.
Note: If the file was moved to quarantine, you need to collect the file from quarantine before you can submit it.
Exclude a file from further scanning
If you are certain that the file is safe and want to continue using it, you can exclude it from further scanning by the F-Secure security product.
Note: You need administrative rights to change the settings.
Variant:Killer
This variant is of the same length as the original, but the text messages have been changed.
Variant:Virdem 792, Virdem 824
Two shorter variants, possibly created by removing the text messages, or they might be earlier variants of the virus.