INTERNET VIRUS
There is a computer cirus that is being send across the
Internet. If you receive an e-mail message with the subject line "Good
Times", DO NOT read the message, DELETE it immediatly. Please read the
messages below. Some miscreant is sending e--mail aunder the the title
"good times" natioin-wide. If you get anything like this, DON'T DOWNLOAD
THE FILE! It has a virus that rewrites your hard disk, obliterating
anything on it.
The FCC released a warning last Wednesday concerning a matter of
major importance to any regular user of the Internet. Apparently, a new
computer virus has been engineered by a user of American Online that is
unparalleled in it destructive capability. Other, more well-known
viruses such as Stoned, Airwolf, and Michaelangelo pale in comparison to
the prospects of this newest creation by a warped mentality.
What makes this virus so terrifying, said the FCC, is the fact
that no program needs to be exchanged for a new computer to be infected.
It can be spread through the existing e-mail systems on the Internet.
Once a computer is infected, one of several things can happen. If the
computer contains a hard disk, that will most likely be destroyed. If
the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an
nth-complexity infinite binary loop - which can severaly damage the
processor if left running that way too long. Unfortunately, most novice
computer users will not realize what is happening until it is far too late.
Luckily, there is one sure means of detecting what is now known
as the "Good Times" virus. It always travels to new computers the same
way in a text e-mail message with the subject line reading simply "Good
Times".
Avoiding infection is easy once the file has been received - not
reading it. The act of loading the file into the mail server's ASCII
buffer causes the "Good Times" mainline program to initiliaze and
execute. The program is highly intelligent - it will send copies of
itself to everyone whose e-mail address is contained in a received-mail
file or a sent-mail file, if it can find one. It will then proceed to
trash the computer it is running on.
The bottom line here is - if you receive a file with the subject
line "Good Times", delete it immediatly. Do not read it! Rest assured
theat whoever's name was on the "From:" line was surely struck by the virus.
Warn your friends and local system users of this newest threat to
the Internet! It could save them a lot of time and money.
