FW: [Fwd: E-mail Viruses???]

Carrie Pendleton (capendle@vt.edu)
Tue, 24 Sep 1996 22:48:28 -0500

To All:

Thought you guys might like to know:

>>>>>>> amb3f@virginia..edu
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This message is extremely important. It is about a
>>>>>>> very highly intelligent virus that is being spread nationwide called
>>>>>>> "Good Times". Once you have read this message, please forward to anyone
>>>>>>> you care about.
>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> SUBJECT: [Very Important !!! ]
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There is a computer virus that is being sent across the Internet. If
you
>>>>>>> receive an email message with the subject line "Good Times", DO NOT
>>>>>>> read the message, DELETE it immediately. Please read the messages
>>>>>>> below.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Some miscreant is sending email under the title "Good Times"
>>>>>>> nationwide, if you get anything like this, DON'T DOWN LOAD THE FILE! It
>>>>>>> has a virus that rewrites your hard drive, obliterating anything on it.
>>>>>>> Please be careful and forward this mail to anyone you care about.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The FCC released a warning last Wednesday concerning a matter of
>>>>>>> major importance to any regular user of the Internet. Apparently a new
>>>>>>> computer virus has been engineered by a user of AMERICA ON LINE that
>>>>>>> is unparalleled in its destructive capability. Other more well-known
>>>>>>> viruses such as "Stoned", "Airwolf" and "Michaelangelo" pale in
>>>>>>> comparison to the prospects of this newest creation by a warped
>>mentality.
>>>>>>> What makes this
>>>>>>> virus so terrifying, said the FCC, is the fact that no program needs
>to be
>>>>>>> exchanged for a new computer to be infected. It can be spread
through the
>>>>>>> existing email systems of the Internet.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Once a Computer is infected, one of several things can happen. If
>>>>>>> the computer contains a hard drive, that will most likely be
>>>>>>> destroyed. If the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will
>>>>>>> be placed in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop -which can severely
>>>>>>> damage the
>>>>>>> processor if left running that way too long.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Unfortunately, most novice computer users will not realize what is
>>>>>>> happening until it is far too late. Luckily, there is one sure means
>>>>>>> of detecting what is now known as the "Good Times" virus. It always
>>>>>>> travels to new computers the same way in a text email message with the
>>>>>>> subject line reading "Good Times". Avoiding infection is easy once the
>>>file
>>>>>>> has
>>>>>>> been received simply by NOT READING IT! The act of loading the file into
>>>>>>> the mail server's ASCII buffer causes the "Good Times" mainline
>program to
>>>>>>> initialize and execute.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The program is highly intelligent- it will send copies of itself
>>>>>>> to everyone whose email address is contained in a receive-mail file or
>>>>>>> a sent-mail file, if it can find one. It will then proceed to trash
>>>>>>> the computer it is running on.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The bottom line is: - if you receive a file with the subject line
>>>>>>> "Good Times", delete it immediately! Do not read it" Rest assured
that
>>>>>>> whoever' name was on the "From" line was surely struck by the virus.
>Warn
>>>>>>> your friends and local system users of this newest threat to the
>>>>>>> Internet! It could save them a lot of time and money.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Could you pass this along to your global mailing list as well?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> <2 Subject: New and Dangerous Virus For your information ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANY FILE NAMED PKZIP300 REGARDLESS OF THE EXTENSION
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> We work closely with the military and received this message from a
>>>>>>> very reliable source in DC this morning.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A NEW Trojan Horse Virus has emerged on the internet with the name
>>>>>>> PKZIP300.ZIP, so named as to give the impression that this file is
>>>>>>> a new version of the PKZIP software used to "ZIP" (compress) files.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> DO NOT DOWNLOAD this file under any circumstances!!! If you install
>>>>>>> or expand this file, the virus WILL wipe your hard disk clean and
>>>>>>> affect modems at 14.4 and higher. This is an extremely destructive
virus
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> there is NOT yet a way of cleaning up this one.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> REPEAT: DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANY FILE NAMED PKZIP300 REGARDLESS
>>>>>>> OF THE EXTENSION.