[11927] in APO-L
Re: FW: FWD>>READ IMMEDIATELY (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (david fass)
Sat Apr 15 23:06:12 1995
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 1995 23:02:11 -0400
Reply-To: david fass <fass@CS.ODU.EDU>
From: david fass <fass@CS.ODU.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <199504141650.MAA18858@yucca.cs.odu.edu>
While Shawn may have had the best intentions in mind when posting this,
this was a thread that started a few months ago and was
conclusively proven to be a HOAKS by a reputable agency with some
assocation with the (I believe) NSF. It turns out no virus
can be passed on by e-mail (except maybe a humor virus) and that the
original incident turned out to be a person who had a virus residing
on their disk and cooincidentally recieved an e-mail entitled
Good Times before experiencing a crash.
I would have reposted the original article which proved this
as being false, but I apparently deleted it after
finding out that it was a false rumor.
Just wanted to set the record straight....
David Fass
fass@cs.odu.edu
On Fri, 14 Apr 1995, Shawn BB Hillis wrote:
> --Everyone,
> I got this message at work. Knowing the source, I put the
> probability of it being a false alarm at very small. Please heed.
>
> ----------
> From: Williams, Jim
> To: All IST Users
> Subject: FWD>>READ IMMEDIATELY
> Date: Friday, April 14, 1995 12:14PM
>
> Please take heed of the following warning! It just came in from NASA.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> FORWARDED FROM: Williams, Jim
>
> READ IMMEDIATELY: Warning about a new computer virus
>
>
>
> ** High Priority **
>
>
> *********************Forwarded Message****************************
>
>
> There is a computer virus that is being sent across the Internet. If you
> receive an e-mail message with the subject line "Good Times", DO NOT
> read the message, DELETE it immediately. Please read the messages
> below.
>
> Some miscreant is sending e-mail under the title "good times"
> nation-wide. If you get anything like this, DON'T DOWNLOAD 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--I have.
> *******************************************************************
>
> WARNING!!!!!!!!!: INTERNET VIRUS
>
> *******************************************************************
>
> 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 Online 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 e-mail 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 ina text e-mail message with the subject line reading simply "Good
> Times".
>
> Avoiding infection is easy once the file has been received - 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 e-mail address is contained in a received-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 here is - if you receive a file with the subject line "Good
> TImes", delete it immediately! Do not read it! Rest assured that
> whoever's 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.
> --
>
