RE:

[William Beaty <billb@eskimo.com>]

DON'T spread hoaxes and urban legends.  ANY message that asks you to "warn
all your friends" is ALWAYS A HOAX.

AOL4FREE and PENPAL GREETINGS are both long-running hoaxes.

Phys-L users would be advized to check out this page on hoaxes.  If hoaxes
are "mind viruses", then this page is vaccine!

http://kumite.com/myths/myths/


                       Computer Virus Myths home page
            Someone is clueless about viruses? Send them a clue!
                                      
                  Ignore the hype. The sky is not falling.
                                      
                            Computer Virus Myths
                                      
   CAPTION:
   
   Stop the press!
   
   April Fool's Day
   Kudos go to Dr. Solomon's for their recent press release about virus
   hoaxes. "Don't Let a Virus Hoax Fool You This April Fool's Day, or Any
   Day," they warned. Dr. Solomon's paid PRNewswire to distribute the
   press release worldwide. No other antivirus company went to this much
   effort on April Fool's Day.
   
     * Generic myths
     * Specific myths & urban legends
     * Persistent virus hoaxes & urban legends
          + "Virus alerts" issued on April Fool's Day
     * Media flops & fiascos over the years
     * Persistent (non-virus) hoaxes & urban legends
     * Genuine horror stories because somebody believed a computer virus
       myth
     * Computer Virus Hysteria Awards
       
               Or search for a specific hoax/legend by name:
          0-9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
             N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
                                      
   Many myths have surfaced about the threat of computer "viruses." There
   are myths about how widespread they are, how dangerous they are, and
   even myths about what a computer virus really is. We want you to know
   the facts.
   
   The first thing you need to know is that a computer virus falls in the
   realm of malicious programming techniques known as "Trojan horses."
   All viruses are Trojan horses, but relatively few Trojan horses can be
   called a virus.
   
   Viruses, like all Trojan horses, purposely make a program do things
   you don't expect it to do. Some viruses will just annoy you, perhaps
   only displaying a "Peace on earth" greeting. The viruses we worry
   about will try to erase your data (the most valuable asset of your
   computer!) and waste your valuable time in recovering from an attack.
   
                   Now let's get into some of the myths:
                                      
  Generic myths & misconceptions:
  
     * MYTH: "all purposely destructive code spreads like a virus"
     * MYTH: "viruses and Trojan horses are a recent phenomenon"
     * MYTH: "teenage hackers write most of the viruses out there"
     * MYTH: "viruses infect up to 25% of all IBM PCs every month"
     * MYTH: "only 500 different viruses? But most experts talk about
       them in the thousands"
     * MYTH: "viruses have been documented or estimated on <number> of
       computers"
     * MYTH: "viruses can hide inside a data file or in electronic mail
       or in the text of a worldwide web page"
     * MYTH: "some viruses can hide from all antivirus software, making
       them truly undetectable"
     * MYTH: "my backups will be worthless if I back up a virus"
     * MYTH: "BBSs, the Internet, and shareware programs spread most
       viruses"
     * MYTH: "my computer could be infected if I simply connect to the
       Internet or dial an infected BBS"
     * MYTH: "my files are damaged, so it must have been a virus attack"
     * MYTH: "viruses can spread to many different types of computer
       systems"
     * MISCONCEPTION: "antivirus software will protect me from viruses"
     * MYTH: "read-only files are safe from virus infection"
     * MYTH: "viruses can infect files on write-protected floppy disks
       and CD-ROMs"
     * MYTH: "antivirus firms write and/or distribute viruses as a way to
       increase sales of their software"
       
  Specific myths & urban legends:
  
     * OVERBLOWN: the "AOL4FREE" Trojan/virus [INLINE]
     * MISCONCEPTION: the "ShareFun" macro virus
     * HOAX: the "modem subcarrier" virus
     * HOAX: the "Microsoft home page" virus
     * HOAX: the "EBOLA" virus
     * MYTH: "a virus temporarily knocked out the entire America Online
       network in 1996"
     * MYTH: "Robert Morris Jr. released a benign virus on a defense
       network"
     * MYTH: "Donald Burleson was convicted of releasing a virus on his
       employer's computer"
     * MYTH: the "Black Widow Java" virus
     * URBAN LEGEND: "the U.S. government planted a virus in Iraqi
       military computers during the Gulf War"
     * URBAN LEGEND: GHOST.EXE Trojan/virus
     * OVERBLOWN: the "Netscape letter bomb" threat
     * OVERBLOWN: the "Boza" virus
       
   CAPTION:
   
   Stop the press!
   
   Funny pages
   Cartoons & comic strips include:
     * Kevin & Kell, syndicated online
     * Nukees, The Daily Californian
       
   ...and you just know Dilbert will deal with virus-alert emails one of
   these days!
   
  Persistent virus hoaxes & urban legends:
  
     * HOAX: the "NaughtyRobot" spider
     * HOAX: malicious joke home pages
     * URBAN LEGEND: the "millennium" virus
     * URBAN LEGEND: the "Gulf War" printer virus
     * URBAN LEGEND: the "Good Times" virus
          + HOAX: the "Valentine's Greetings" virus
          + HOAX: the "Death69" virus
          + HOAX: the "Deeyenda" virus
          + HOAX: the "Irina" virus
          + HOAX: the "MMF" virus
          + HOAX: the "Penpal Greetings" virus
     * OVERBLOWN: the "PKZ300B" or "PKZIP300" Trojan/virus
       
    "Virus alerts" issued on April Fool's Day
    
     * XMAS SPOOF: the "Little Drummer Boy" virus of 1996
     * MOVIE SPOOF: the "ID4 virus alert" of 1996
     * APRIL FOOL: the "sound card virus alert" of 1995
     * APRIL FOOL: the "JPEG virus alert" of 1994
     * APRIL FOOL: the "ATM virus alert" of 1992
     * APRIL FOOL: the "Gulf War" printer virus of 1991
       
  Media flops & fiascos over the years:
  
     * FIASCO: the worldwide Hare virus media scare of 1996
     * FLOP: the "black widow" Java virus media scare of 1996
     * FIASCO: the worldwide Michelangelo virus media scare of 1992
     * FIASCO: the worldwide Columbus Day (aka DataCrime) virus media
       scare of 1989
       
  Persistent (non-virus) hoaxes & urban legends:
  
     * URBAN LEGEND: Neiman Marcus cookie recipe sold for $250
     * OUT OF CONTROL: the Houghton-Mifflin book charity
     * URBAN LEGEND: the "Lexis-Nexis P-TRAK" alert
     * URBAN LEGEND: the "Dying Boy" story
     * URBAN LEGEND: the "FCC modem tax" legislation
       
  Genuine horror stories because somebody believed a virus myth:
  
     * HORROR STORY: "antivirus firm calls an old program a 'new' Trojan
       horse"
     * HORROR STORY: "employee fired when his computer DIDN'T have a
       virus"
       
  Computer Virus Hysteria Awards
  
     * CVHA 1996 winners' list
     * CVHA 1997 voting booth
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Alphabetical list of virus hoaxes, urban legends, myths, and overblown threats

          0-9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
             N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
                                      
   Current virus totals
   ZERO known email viruses
   ZERO known HTML viruses
   ZERO known Java viruses
   ZERO known Javascript viruses
   ZERO known ActiveX viruses
   ZERO known CMOS viruses
   ZERO known video RAM viruses
   ZERO known BIOS viruses
   
  0-9
  
     * 14.4k modem virus
     * 2400 baud modem virus
       
  A
  
     * AF1 virus (April Fool)
     * anti-CDA virus
     * AOL4FREE Trojan/virus (overblown)
     * AOLHELL97 Trojan/virus (overblown)
     * Alien/OS virus (movie spoof)
     * ATM virus (April Fool)
       
  B
  
     * Black Widow Java virus
     * Bud Frogs virus (possible hoax, but certainly overblown)
     * Burleson, Donald: the USPA&IRA virus
     * Boza virus (overblown)
       
  C
  
     * Clarke, Lance: the MMF virus
     * Columbus Day virus (overblown)
       
  D
  
     * DataCrime virus (overblown)
     * Death69 virus
     * Death-Blaze virus
     * Deeyenda Maddick virus
     * Donald Burleson: the USPA&IRA virus
       
  E
  
     * EBOLA [computer] virus
     * email letter bomb threat (overblown)
       
  F
  
  G
  
     * Gadney, Guy: the Irina virus
     * Garrison Keillor: Little Drummer Boy virus
       
   (Christmas spoof from A Prairie Home Companion)
   
     GHOST.EXE Trojan/virus
   
     Good Times virus
   
     graphic file virus (April Fool)
   
     Gulf War printer virus
   
     Guy Gadney: the Irina virus
   
  H
  
     * Hackingburgh virus
     * Halloween Trojan/virus
     * Hare (Krshna) virus (overblown)
     * home page virus
     * HTML page o' death threat (overblown)
       
  I
  
     * ID4 virus (movie spoof)
     * InfoWorld: the Gulf War printer virus
     * Iraqi printer virus
     * Irina virus
       
  J
  
     * Java virus
     * Join the Crew virus
     * JPEG virus (April Fool)
       
  K
  
     * Keillor, Garrison: Little Drummer Boy virus
       
   (Christmas spoof from A Prairie Home Companion)
   
  L
  
     * Lance Clarke: the MMF virus
     * letter bomb email threat (overblown)
     * Little Drummer Boy virus (Christmas spoof from Garrison Keillor's
       A Prairie Home Companion)
       
  M
  
     * Maddick (Deeyenda) virus
     * Make Money Fast virus
     * malicious joke home pages
     * McAfee Associates: the GHOST.EXE Trojan/virus
     * meme virus
     * Michelangelo virus (overblown)
     * Microsoft home page virus
     * Microsoft Win95 Install Disk #2 infected with virus (myth)
     * Mike RoChenle: the "modem subcarrier" virus
     * millennium virus
     * MMF virus
     * modem subcarrier virus
     * Moment of Silence virus
       
  N
  
     * NaughtyRobot spider
     * Netscape letter bomb email threat (overblown)
     * NSA printer virus
       
  O
  
     * O14FREE Trojan/virus (overblown)
       
  P
  
     * Page o' death email threat (overblown)
     * Penal Greetings virus
     * Penguin Press: the Irina virus
     * Penpal Greetings virus
     * PKZ300B Trojan/virus
     * PKZIP300 Trojan/virus
     * PKWare: the PKZ300B Trojan/virus
     * printer virus released by NSA in Gulf War
       
  Q
  
  R
  
     * Red alert virus
     * Returned Mail virus
     * Richard M. Smith: the Netscape letter bomb email threat
       (overblown)
     * RoChenle, Mike: the "modem subcarrier" virus
       
  S
  
     * ShareFun.A virus (overblown)
     * Sheep virus
     * sound card virus (April Fool)
     * Spider Black Widow Java virus
     * Smith, Richard M.: the Netscape letter bomb email threat
       (overblown)
     * subcarrier modem virus
     * Sun Microsystems Java virus
       
  T
  
  U
  
     * Undeliverable Mail virus
     * USPA&IRA virus
     * U.S. News & World Report: the Gulf War printer virus
       
  V
  
     * Valentine's Greetings virus
     * VPDOWINIT Trojan/virus (overblown)
       
  W
  
     * Widow Spider Java virus
     * Win95 Boza virus (overblown)
     * Win95 Install Disk #2 infected with virus (myth)
       
  X
  
     * XXX-1 virus
       
  Y
  
     * year 2000 virus
     * Yukon3U virus
       
  Z
     _________________________________________________________________
   


On Sun, 24 Aug 1997, Cindy Schwarz wrote:

> > Info for you:
> >
> > A few hours ago, Someone opened an E-mail that had the subject heading
> > of ao4free.com
> >
> > Within seconds of opening it, a window appeared and began to display
> > all files that were being deleted.  The user immediately shut down the
> > computer, but it was too late.

......................uuuu / oo \ uuuu........,.............................
William Beaty  voice:206-781-3320   bbs:206-789-0775    cserv:71241,3623
EE/Programmer/Science exhibit designer        http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/
Seattle, WA 98117  billb@eskimo.com           SCIENCE HOBBYIST web page