Virus alert

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:19 am

We got an email at work that said there is a new virus being passed around. It will show up as an email with "invitation" as the subject.
DO NOT open, of course. It will reputedly fry your hard drive.

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:38 am

Thanks for the alert, Kevin. Actually, i'd never open an email from an unknown address (yep, we've had to re-install the system on our PC due to my faults...)

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:58 am

I've had a couple of (electronic) worms myself.
I figured most people would know better, but a warning doesn't hurt.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:48 pm

Sounds like a hoax that has surfaced before:

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/olympicvirus.html

Virus warning e-mails harken from the Internet's infancy, when the only reliable defense against the malicious programs was vigilance and knowledge. Viruses have become more sophisticated, and so have the defenses against them. Since most e-mailed virus warnings today, like this one, are bogus, relying on these through-the-grapevine defenses is both unnecessary and unadvisable.

SAMPLE CHAIN LETTER TEXT

Please read the attached warning issued today .

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:

You should be alert during the next days:

Do not open any message with an attached filed called "Invitation" regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW . . . REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.

END CHAIN LETTER TEXT

The text above first surfaced in February, 2006, just days before the opening ceremonies of the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy. It is a reworking of early hoaxes around since 2002 that warned against opening e-mails titled A Card For You and WTC Survivor, and is no more true.

Virus warnings play on common societal fears that something we do, such as unknowingly opening an infected file, will cause us a great deal of heartache and not just a little embarrassment, since your infection will undoubtedly spread to others. Just as many legitimate viruses key in on current events to coax their victims into unleashing their bugs, so do hoax creators use newsworthy names and events in increase the 'fear factor' and perceived timeliness of the tome. Then, they tell you that you could be key not only into protecting your own, but also that you have a responsibility to your friends and family to share the information with them - that you are their only defense against malicious hackers.

Yet, in the 'real world,' relying on e-mailed virus warnings to ensure the safety of your computer and the data it contains is foolhardy at best and suicidal - technologically speaking - at worst. The so-called advisories are almost always false. Even when they do have an ounce of truth to them, they are either blown out of proportion (such as in the case of the Osama Bin Laden virus warning) or devoid of any real information or advice that would truly help you avoid or clean an infection. They serve only to make us paranoid and, in some cases, can do more harm than good (e.g., forwarding them increases your exposure to spam and scams).

True protection from unwanted intrusions on your data and hardware comes from active, up-to-date, real-time antivirus software. These programs are inexpensive, effective and easy to install. If you are currently browsing the internet without current antivirus protection, you are asking for trouble - trouble that all the forwarded e-mail warnings in the world won't prevent. For more that you can do to make sure your computer is as safe as it can be, please read Protecting Your PC in the Chain-Breaker's Library. Then, never forward another virus warning. Break this chain.

dr_wahnsinn · Post by **dr_wahnsinn** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:36 pm

Get a Mac!

[Jocelyn scrambles for cover]

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:40 pm

Mac? I'm pretty happy with my PC, thank you.

Well, anyway... i remember, somewhere in the Spring of 2006, somebody said it on the radio that there's a new virus circling around & that nobody should open new letters with attachments, even from well-known addresses. That day, i should've gotten some new chapters of the book, and albeit i was a bit nervous, i've opened the letter from work & downloaded the attachments. Guess what?
Nothing happened!
Anyway, it never hurts being careful...

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:47 pm

My Mac has never had any of these problems...however, when I had my studio in Brasil, voltage fluctuations caused my hard drive to lose data. One day, I had just cleaned my HD and was reinstalling my OS when the power failed right in the middle of the install.

Bye bye hard drive. I had one of a half-dozen Macs in my city of 1 million. The others were owned by the local cable monopoly. Their techs helped me to get things up and running, since they were only about 4 blocks away and learned of my plight through the grapevine.

Just got a new iMac G5 20" and it's quite the machine.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:55 pm

Virus? What's a virus? (Mac user). I, too, have a new iMac G5 (but only the 17" screen -- inadequacy issues?), and a Powerbook. Absolutely the best, and I would never consider a PC.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:21 pm

one of a thousand!

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:22 pm

"I had one of a half-dozen Macs in my city of 1 million."

And that's why they don't get viruses - the chowderheads who generate those dang things want a much bigger audience.

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:12 am

Well, Jocelyn, see what you've started?

In fact, i've never considered a Mac for a few reasons.
1. They're more expensive (much more expensive here where i live), and with my very limited computer skills, i just can't see any point in getting me - to quote Paul - "quite the machine".
2. My employers work on PCs. Moreover, there is a point in getting a Mac for a maker-up or designer, but, being an editor, i don't really need Mac's functionality. I use Word, Internet explorer and sometimes Photoshop, and that's about all.
3. It'd take some time to learn & get used to the new system, and i may be too lazy for that...
Now, i am not a "PC geek" or something, that's just like... well, like Fenders vs Gibsons or apples vs oranges. All of them have their own advantages, and people choose what they feel most comfortable with.

captsandwich · Post by **captsandwich** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:30 am

Paul, invest in a UPS.
Everyone else, keep your AV software up to date!!!
Windows Users, MicroSoft releases security patches on the second Tuesday of every month, download & install them if you don't have the automatic updates enabled.
I work in IT Security at a bank. The number of viruses that try to infect our systems every month is staggering, and we're a small company in the banking universe.
I use MS products at work and have an iMac and a PC at home. I even run Norton on my iMac because I have MSOffice for Mac on there.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:59 am

There are viruses and trojans/worms for Macs and Linux, but they are not very common.

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:03 pm

The first ever virus out in the wild was for the Apple 2 so it is possible to infect Macs, it just doesn't happen often because they are such a small target, and since the OS has historically been Unix based, its a little harder to hack than the Dos based windows stuff.

Also, local based antivirus solutions can still be messed up if the computer user does something stupid to download something onto the machine. Spyware/adware is often a bigger problem nowadays than viruses, and Macs can be infected with some of these.

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:27 pm

My kids have still managed to destroy their Ibooks...

I keep'em offa my PC as much as possible.