Virus Alert

[AJ]

I trust this is a genuine warning:

A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) and by McAfee (www.mcafee.com) as the most destructive ever!

This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee and no vaccine has yet been developed.


This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital information for its functioning are stored. This virus acts in the following manner:


It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title

"A Virtual Card for You".

As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened, the computer freezes so
that the user has to reboot. When the ctrl+alt+del keys or the reset
button are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the hard disk.

Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic in New York, according to news
broadcast by CNN (www.cnn.com).

This alert was received by an employee of
Microsoft itself. So don't open any mails with subject

"A Virtual Card for You".

As soon as you get the mail, delete it. Please pass on this mail to all your friends. Forward this to everyone in your address book. I would rather receive this 25 times than not at all. Also: Intel announced that a new and very destructive virus was discovered recently. If you receive an email called "An Internet Flower For You",do not open it. Delete it right away!

This virus removes all dynamic link libraries(.dll files) from your computer. Your computer will not be able to boot up. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST!!

[Boss Raptor]

'Fraid this is a known hoax - check out the McAfee Virus Information Library;

http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp?

[AJ]

Thanks Boss

Apologies to all members for any inconvenience caused.

[Boss Raptor]

No problem, the intention was good after all - I have found this source of information very useful as I hope you will to...

[MarkD]

I'm afraid it is a hoax, according to McAfee:
http://vil.nai.com/vil/virusChar.asp?virus_k=98893

AVERT HOAX Notice!!

NAI Labs AVERT would like to inform you of a new email HOAX.

This email message is just a HOAX, currently we know of no other message that the user will receive about the HOAX as the initial email states. AVERT has not received any report of a user's hard drive being erased for opening the email.

We are advising users who receive the email to delete it and DO NOT pass it on as this is how an email HOAX propagates.

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

There is a high level alert for a "flash movie" which is in fact a virus:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/virusSummary.asp?virus_k=99035

It would be a good idea to check that out.

[25F]

The simple rule is, if it says "send this to everyone you know" just don't. Mostly it's virus hoaxes, but occasionally you get an email petition that is quite compelling (but always pointless).

Check www.vmyths.com (http://www.vmyths.com) for the lowdown on virus myths, and www.snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com) for urban legends (including various petitions and chain letters).

In time you'll be able to spot a bogus mail before you've even finished the first sentence.

[Akwah_Plain]

But watch out for a real one that has caused some big problems:

"TROJ_NAKEDWIFE is a new Trojan that has been hitting the headlines. Upon execution, this Trojan deletes all DLL, INI, EXE, BMP, and COM files in the Windows and system directories. It propagates via MS Outlook, by sending out an email to every email address listed in the infected user's address book. A sample of this email is as follows:

Subject: FW: Naked Wife
Message Body: My wife never look like that :)
Best Regards,
<Sender>
Attachment: NakedWife.exe"

Out of interest, the Kournikova virus nearly got me a couple of weeks ago - luckily it got caught by Zone Alarm. The Norton virus definition for it didn't arrive until several days later.