What Does ANSI Bomb Mean?
An ANSI Bomb is a type of Trojan virus that reprograms certain keys (including function keys), making them display color and unwanted graphics by use of character sequencing. ANSI bombs connect themselves to the ANSI.SYS driver, which is usually associated with a text file or mail message. By initiating destructive commands, escape sequences redefine keys in this bomb process.
Techopedia Explains ANSI Bomb
ANSI bombs have been around since 1996. Key commands, like “Enter”, also may malfunction, causing a system to crash. These types of Trojan viruses are not as harmful as other viruses because they typically do not launch to third-party systems.
An ANSI bomb can execute within ANSI systems, but the number of programs that require ANSI has reduced drastically. Current Windows versions no longer utilize ANSI terminal emulations.