Re: Re: OT: Virus/worm Alert

[Guest guest]

At 10:51 PM 9/19/2001 +0000, you wrote:

>*****

>Jay,

>Forgive my ignorance, what does " hoax " mean? I am not familiar with

>the term. Does it mean " fake " , not real?

>

>Thanks, Cristina-WA

>

>PS I received the notice from my MIL, as usual: she fwds bunch of

>stuff.

>*****

The only ignorant person is one who is afraid to ask questions...

A virus hoax is warning about a virus that does not actually exist. People

send it out, usually with dire warnings and urging you to " pass it on to

everyone you ever knew " ...

Here is an example of a hoax.

ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY BY IBM: If you receive an email with a file called

" EVIL THE CAT " do not open the file. The file Contains the " EVIL THE CAT "

virus. IBM reports that... " this is a very dangerous virus, much worse than

" " and there is NO remedy for it at this time. Some very sick, geeky

individual has succeeded in using the reformat function from Norton

Utilities using it to completely erase all documents on the hard drive. It

has been designed to work with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet

explorer. It destroys Macintosh and IBM Compatible computers. This is a

new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it at this time.

Please pass this warning to everyone in your address book and share it with

all your online friends ASAP so that the Destruction it can cause may be

minimized. "

From Symantec website http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/hoax.html

" Symantec Security Response uncovers hoaxes on a regular basis. These

hoaxes usually arrive in the form of an email. Please disregard the hoax

emails - they contain bogus warnings usually intent only on frightening or

misleading users. The best course of action is to merely delete these hoax

emails. Please refer to this page whenever you receive what appears to be a

bogus message regarding a new virus, or promotion that sounds too good to

be true. "

I would go a step further and say that ANYTIME you get a virus warning,

check it yourself, before passing it on and maybe politely suggest that

whoever sent you the warning do the same...It only takes a minute. I get so

many of these hoaxes sent to me that I have a automated reply set up.

Major Security Sites.

www.sarc.com Symantec/Norton Antivirus

www.mcafee.com McAfee Antivirus

www.cert.org Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon

You can also sign up for free security email alerts so you can be notified

when something of high risk is developing.

My favorite...the BadTimes Virus...I guess this one is a bit hard to

classify as a hoax...but I do like it...

Subject: Virus Alert

If you receive an email entitled " Badtimes, " delete it immediately. Do not

open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase

everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks

within 20 feet of your computer.

It demagnetizes the stripes on ALL of your credit cards. It reprograms your

ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field

harmonics to scratch any CD's you attempt to play. It will re-calibrate

your refrigerator's coolness settings so all your ice cream melts and your

milk curdles. It will program your phone autodial to call only your

ex-spouses' number. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank. It

will drink all your beer. It will leave dirty socks on the coffee table

when you are expecting company. Its radioactive emissions will cause your

bellybutton fuzz (be honest, you have some) to migrate behind your ears. It

will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine, all while

dating your current boy/girlfriend behind your back and billing their hotel

rendezvous to your Visa card. It will cause you to run with scissors and

throw things in a way that is only fun until someone loses an eye. It will

give you Dutch Elm Disease and Psitticosis. It will rewrite yo

ur backup files, changing all your active verbs to passive tense and

incorporating undetectable misspellings which grossly change the

interpretations of key sentences. It will leave the toilet seat up and

leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub. It

will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows,

but it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk. It will replace all

your luncheon meat with Spam. It will molecularly rearrange your cologne or

perfume, causing it to smell like dill pickles. It is insidious and subtle.

It is dangerous and terrifying to behold. It is also a rather interesting

shade of mauve. These are just a few signs of infection.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!

(see computer people CAN have a sense of humor...)

----------------------------------------------

Jay Bigam

Marketing and Information Technology Manager

Kinnikinnick Foods Inc.

www.kinnikinnick.com

Toll Free: 1-