Ambulance (computer virus)
title: "Ambulance (computer virus)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dos-file-viruses"] topic_path: "general/dos-file-viruses" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulance_(computer_virus)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="infobox computer virus"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| alias | RedX |
| type | Virus |
| isolation_date | June,1990 |
| origin | Germany |
| platform | DOS |
| file_size | 796 bytes |
| :: |
| common_name = | technical_name = | alias = RedX | family = | classification = | type = Virus | subtype = | isolation_date = June,1990 | origin = Germany | author = | ports_used = | platform = DOS | file_size = 796 bytes | language = Ambulance or Ambulance Car is a computer virus that infected computers running a DOS operating system in June 1990. It was discovered in Germany.
Description
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Ambulance_Virus_Payload.gif" caption="Animation of the payload"] ::
Ambulance does not become memory resident. It infects only one .COM file in any given directory, but not the first one. Thus, there must be at least two .COM files in a directory for it to spread.
When an infected file is executed, an ASCII art ambulance can be seen moving across the screen, a siren starts to sound, and it displays an alert message such as: BOOM! It is not a deliberately destructive virus; it simply spreads itself around and shows off its payload once in a while. In certain iterations of the virus, the ambulance will only appear once per boot-up.
Variants
These are just some of many variants detected:
- Ambulance Car-B
- RedX-Any
- Ambulance.793
- Ambulance.793.A
- Ambulance.795
- Ambulance.796A
References
References
- "Ambulance Car Virus". 1996 Virus-Test-Center, University of Hamburg.
- "AMBULANCE.796A - Threat Encyclopedia".
- "Ambulance Car Virus".
- "Virus.DOS.Ambulance.796.a". Virus List.
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