virus warning

[plainsong]

Hi everyone,
a friend sent me this virus warning this evening-
dont know anything about this one but fwiw cannot do any harm
to mention it, though I dont know how accurate the info is--

Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 2:55 PM
Subject: Virus Alert


>IMPORTANT WARNING:
>
>Please Be Extremely Careful Especially if using Internet mail such as
>Yahoo, Hotmail and so on. This information arrived this morning, from
>Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who accesses
>the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power
>Point presentation "Life is beautiful. pps" If you receive it DO NOT
>OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and delete it immediately. If you
>open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: "It is too
>late now, your life is no longer beautiful", subsequently you will LOSE
>EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it to you will gain access
>to your name, E-mail and password. This is a new virus which started to
>circulate on Saturday afternoon. WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO
>STOP THIS VIRUS: AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the anti
>virus Softs are not capable of destroying it. The virus has been created
>by a hacker who calls himself "life owner", PLEASE MAKE A COPY OF THIS
>EMAIL AND SEND TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS

well, sounds awful,

 

[Sim]

This is a hoax. What's more - it even reads like a hoax.

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/life.is.beautiful.hoax.html

You should always check up on these things yourself before forwarding the email on to "all your friends" - always go to a reliable source like the Symantec AntiVirus Center, http://www.symantec.com/avcenter and check the hoaxes pages (link is right down the bottom).

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.

 

[Jamie]

Thanx Sim'

A special warning for those "hoax" emails that ask you to remove a program from your computer... the majority ask you to remove files with .dll (dynamic link libraries) and .exe (executable) extensions...

Please check the site Sim' mentioned in the last post, or the site your ISP recommends for breaches, before you remove programs.

Best wishes,

Jamie

 

[Les]

Good people,

As Sim says, check it out with "those who know" (like Microsoft, AOL, Norton, etc.) Usually they are ALREADY aware of anything you are seeing .....

There are a few "give-away" hints that indicate when something is/isn't a hoax. Many such hoaxes contains THESE words:-

#1 - PLEASE MAKE A COPY OF THIS EMAIL AND SEND TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS

By doing this, you are turning an innocuous hoax into a "network storm" - simply because EVERYBODY sends it to EVERYBODY in their address book. And just guess what that does to email traffic around the world???? So the hoax becomes successful as a "destroyer" simply because people are "helping" it to do its work by over-loading networks !!!!


#2 - the anti-virus Software is not capable of destroying it.....

Yeah, that's a bit like saying "A car mechanic doesn't know how to fix cars" or "A plumber can't fix a leak". The anti-virus software houses ARE onto these from the first incident that appears (and these would not usually be first seen in Australia anyway).

#3 - "IMPORTANT WARNING"
"Please Be Extremely Careful"
"you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC"
"WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS VIRUS"

Way to go !!!! Grab the emotions, give them a hefty tweak, and well-meaning people will do everything within their power to "save" their friends from the problem (or, prevent their friends from "gaining access to MY computer"). A hoax is ALWAYS emotion driven.... Calamity to all if you "break the chain!!"

That's right - they are ALL chain letters !!!!!!!!

See them in this light, DON'T be panicked, think it through, and (if you remember the url) check the main players (like Microsoft, AOL, Norton, McAfee, Hotmail, etc.) to see if this "chain letter" is already known.



REAL VIRUSES:-
Probably the MAJOR part of the problem with many REAL viruses is that they OFTEN appear to have come from a friend (who most likely doesn't know this has happened anyway).

If you get a message from a friend with a header (subject line) that "doesn't ring true", CALL them - ask whether they sent you something !!!! The kinds of REAL viruses often have "general" subject lines rather than the kind of thing you might expect your friend to send (and they ALWAYS have an attachment - it is the attachment that does the damage, not the email itself!!!! If you DON'T open the attachment, you are safe - I think )

Examples of subject lines (headers) of KNOWN viruses :-

1. "I love you" (from your friend??? How GOOD a friend is THIS???????? Why would THEY have sent you something like that? QUESTION IT...... Give 'em a call!!! )

2. "I'll get back to you re your email soon - but meantime, check THIS out !!!!" (Did you send your friend an email??? Why would they have NOT replied??? Why would they say "Check this out before I reply to what you were asking about.... Does this make sense? NO WAY!!! It is a virus !!!!!!

3. I can't remember the ACTUAL subject line, but it involved Anna Kournikova - it's a virus too.



People, if you REALLY want to help your friends, here are some things you CAN do.....

a. Don't use vague headers (subject lines) when you're sending things to them - put something in it that will TELL them it REALLY is from you.

b. If you receive a "chain letter" hoax DON'T pass it on without checking it out first.

c. One I received said "Don't reply to the person who sent this - pass it on to all your friends" (GUESS what I did???)

d. If there is NO attachment, it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY to be a real virus (I haven't yet heard of a straight text message that can "wreck" a computer).

e. If it is attacking your EMOTIONS, it is likely - no, make that HIGHLY LIKELY - that it is a hoax.


Don't panic - all hoaxes DEPEND on you panicking !!!!

And, please don't think I'm "having a shot" at anyone here. I am fortunate enough to work in a Multi-National company. Naturally enough, when I receive 13 emails with a common header (from people in the company that I've NEVER HEARD OF), it is EASY to smell a rat. For those of you who receive ONE message from a friend, it is EASY to just open the bl__dy thing without even thinking .......

One other thing - if a message from a friend has "FW: " in the front of the subject line, it is likely to be either a hoax, or a virus. Watch out for "forwarded" messages, ESPECIALLY if they have an attachment.

Don't panic - think it through - ring your friend if you are unsure - even set up a special code if you wish (e.g. tell your friend that EVERY message that you REALLY DO send will have "zxy" somewhere in the header - if it DOESN'T have those 3 letters, then don't trust it)

Hope this helps.....

Regards

 

[plainsong]

Thanks everyone--I wasnt aware of all that, now i've been educated..
Cheers.

 

[Les]

G'day plainsong,

No worries - and let me say "Thanks" for giving this thread such a straight-out Subject heading. 'cos, for sure, anyone searching on "virus" will find this.

And THAT is the main reason I put so much into my answer to you. It was for the benefit of all. I'm sure the other replies were motivated in much the same way....

What you had presented showed that you had THOUGHT about what you'd received, and questioned it (here), and I applaud you for it. And, by posting it, you presented us with an opportunity to EXPAND on this huge subject.

Thanks everyone - I wasnt aware of all that, now i've been educated..

And you have helped educate about 1200 others too, plainsong - so, thank YOU.....

Regards,

 

[Sim]

Thank YOU Les for doing my normal rant on this subject for me

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

Here's one of my all time favorite virus hoxes:

http://www.jokeaday.com/7aolexe.shtml

Some of the reactions to it are funny too.

 

[plainsong]

Well this thread has sure been an education for me!!

I had no clue that people actually got their jolly's from

sitting round making up this rubbish., they must have too much

time on their hands ( and twisted little minds obviously)


Now im a little more clued in-- thanks everybody!


Plainsong
(Computer illiterate dill .. heheh)