tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 07 16:31:05 1994
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Re: FWD>>>>>>RE- e-mail alert...
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: FWD>>>>>>RE- e-mail alert...
- Date: Wed, 7 Dec 1994 19:29:55 -0500
>I don't want to discourage anyone "being careful" (YES, BE CAREFUL;
>BACKUP SOFTWARE, RUN VIRUS CHECKERS, KNOW WHERE SOFTWARE COMES >FROM
>AND *DON'T* PIRATE ), but REALLY! While I can imagine how a virus
>could be distributed within email *HOW* on earth (okay, Qo'noS) is
>this warning plausible. Is it a Unix Virus? (which Unix?) Dos?
>Amiga? Mac?
>
>This smells like an urban legend of sorts....
No, Joel, it's a true story. The virus originated on America On-Line.
There's a feature of AOL, which allows members to send files back and forth
to each other. If there's a file attached to an e-mail message, you can
download it with the click of a button. Now, here's the fun part. AOL
recently upgraded its software, and there's a new feature with which you can
schedule automatic logons to read mail and, you guessed it, download files.
So, sets the environment for a playful virus to cut loose. My understanding
is that the virus would attempt to erase the hard drive; I don't know about
how effective virus scanners, etc., are (I'm not saying they're not
effective, I just don't know what they'd do with this particular one).
--Holtej