I've noticed that we occasionally get virus warnings on this list.
I thought the attached note about computer viruses by one of my collegues
here was informative. (The message is from a local FAU discussion list.)
He points out that the web site
http://www.kumite.com/myths
has lots of information on virus myths, hoaxes, and urban legends.
(Some of you on this list are interested in urban legends.)
Ed
-----------------------------------------------------------
Edward B. Allen, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
Office: (407)367-3916 Home: (407)487-2445
Fax: (407)367-2800 Fax: (407)477-8300
Internet: allene@cse.fau.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Horton
> Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 09:37:17 -0500 (EST)
> From: Tom Horton <tom@cse.fau.edu>
> Subject: Re: VIRUS WARNING (NOT!)
> To: fau-l@ACC.FAU.EDU
>
> No, the following virus is not legit! Just one more in many almost
> identical hoaxes (where only the name has been changed).
>
> >This was sent to me by a friend....does anyone know about
> >this virus? Is it legit?
> >...
> > If anyone receives mail entitled; PENPAL GREETINGS! please delete it
> > WITHOUT reading it. ON NO ACCOUNT BE TEMPTED TO OPEN AND READ THE MESSAGE.
>
> I'm clearly getting smarter because now I've retrieved my FAU-L message
> from last November about this kind of thing (that time it was the "Irina"
> virus). I needed it again last month for the "Deeyenda" virus. And now we
> have "Penpal". Here's what I said then that bears repeating now:
>
> > Well, this sounds suspiciously like the hoax that went around a few years
> > ago, but with the subject line "good times". Generally, reading an e-mail
> > message cannot spread a virus if your mail reader simply "displays" the
> > text contents of a file. (Remember viruses are specific for particular
> > machines or operating systems, and e-mail can be sent to PCs, Mac, UNIX
> > machines, IBM mainframes, pagers, etc.)
> >
> > ... I went looking on the Web. An "advanced" Altavista search of
> > "Irina NEAR virus" found a page entitled "Computer Virus Myths" at
> > http://www.kumite.com/myths
> > (Its subtitle is: "Confirmed, Houston. The sky is not falling.") Pretty
> > amusing page! This page says:
>
> Yep, this Web page now has a new entry for the Penpal virus.
>
> Again, if you ever wonder about a virus rumor, check out this page.
> It's quite interesting and amusing, especially if you like urban legends.
>
> Tom
>
> P.S. FAU-L readers may not know that all messages to FAU-L are stored on
> the Web at http:/www.casr.fau.edu/fau-l
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Thomas B. Horton, Associate Professor
> Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, Florida Atlantic University
> Boca Raton, FL 33431 USA Phone: 561/367-2674 FAX: 561/367-2800
> Internet: tom@cse.fau.edu WWW: http://www.cse.fau.edu/~tom
>