---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 7 Dec 94 08:40:34 CST From: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Subject: INTERNET mail "virus" a hoax - official word Barbara, Since I read the message on the Parkinsons list about a virus that could erase your hard drive, I thought I would forward this to you. This message is from another list I subscribe to: Jennifer [log in to unmask] _______________________________________ There have been several messages about the "Internet Virus" (attempted to be) sent to FINAID-L. Because they contained syntactic errors AND BECAUSE of the following posting, I have not returned those "bounced" messages to the sender for followup delivery to FINAID-L. I suggest that further discussion of "Virus Alert" take place on a virus-related list. -- co-owner INFOSYS, TQM-L, CPARK-L, ERAPPA-L, JANITORS, LDBASE-L, et -L [log in to unmask] "Let them get their own mailing list" +1 814 863 1843 31 Shields Bldg. -- Penn State Univ -- University Park, PA 16802-1202 USA - - The original note follows - - Date: Wed, 7 Dec 1994 12:48:21 +0000 Reply-To: LISTSERV list owners' forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Edis Bevan <[log in to unmask]> Subject: INTERNET mail "virus" a hoax - official word To: Multiple recipients of list LSTOWN-L <LSTOWN-L@SEARN> I chased this up with the virus watch guru on my site and he forwarded this bulletin from CIAC. I though it would be valuable for other list owners Edis Bevan ------------------- A - T - T - E - N - T - I - O - N ------------------- THE "Good Times" VIRUS IS AN URBAN LEGEND In the early part of December, CIAC started to receive information requests about a supposed "virus" which could be contracted via America OnLine, simply by reading a message. The following is the message that CIAC received: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Here is some important information. Beware of a file called Goodtimes. | | | | Happy Chanukah everyone, and be careful out there. There is a virus on | | America Online being sent by E-Mail. If you get anything called "Good | | Times", DON'T read it or download it. It is a virus that will erase your | | hard drive. Forward this to all your friends. It may help them a lot. | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS IS A HOAX. Upon investigation, CIAC has determined that this message originated from both a user of America Online and a student at a university at approximately the same time, and it was meant to be a hoax. CIAC has also seen other variations of this hoax, the main one is that any electronic mail message with the subject line of "xxx-1" will infect your computer. This rumor has been spreading very widely. This spread is due mainly to the fact that many people have seen a message with "Good Times" in the header. They delete the message without reading it, thus believing that they have saved themselves from being attacked. These first-hand reports give a false sense of credibility to the alert message. There has been one confirmation of a person who received a message with "xxx-1" in the header, but an empty message body. Then, (in a panic, because he had heard the alert), he checked his PC for viruses (the first time he checked his machine in months) and found a pre-existing virus on his machine. He incorrectly came to the conclusion that the E-mail message gave him the virus (this particular virus could NOT POSSIBLY have spread via an E-mail message). This person then spread his alert. As of this date, there are no known viruses which can infect merely through reading a mail message. For a virus to spread some program must be executed. Reading a mail message does not execute the mail message. Yes, Trojans have been found as executable attachments to mail messages, the most notorious being the IBM VM Christmas Card Trojan of 1987, also the TERM MODULE Worm (reference CIAC Bulletin B-7) and the GAME2 MODULE Worm (CIAC Bulletin B-12). But this is not the case for this particular "virus" alert. If you encounter this message being distributed on any mailing lists, simply ignore it or send a follow-up message stating that this is a false rumor. Karyn Pichnarczyk CIAC Team [log in to unmask]