From: SHELBY BELL Sent: Monday, December 09, 1996 1:45 PM To: AMY BLACKBURN; ROXANNE BRADLEY; KONNI BUNYA; CONNIE CHAO; CLIFF CHEW; DEB (stemmler@cup.hp.com); NANCY DEVORE; DON (DONH@CUP.HP.COM); ERIC (erosme@hpisrck.cup.hp.com); EROSME (erosme@hpisrck.cup.hp.com); ROBERT FARMER; ABDUL HALABIEH; DON HAY (DONH@CUP.HP.COM); GAIL HICKS; CHARLES HYMES; LINN JOHNK; MARYANN LITTLE; PAULA NOORDEEN; GWEN ODELL; ROBERT ODELL; LENA PATTON; JEFF RHODIE; JASMINE ROSIG; ANASTASIA SALTABIDA; DEB STEMMLER; LISBETH TAM; EVERETT THOMAS; LESLIE TOMIHIRO; CHRISTINA TSAI; JEFFREY VARGAS; ROBIN WILLIAMS; BARBARA WINGERT-BURBACH; JANE YUAN Cc: SHELBY BELL; RON CORDON; MARIO GONZALEZ; JAMES HSIEH; STEVEN JOHNSON; ALAN LEAL; BARBARA SUDLOW; MARK SWEENEY Subject: Re: Fwd: Virus Alert The warning you received about a "PenPal Greetings" virus is a HOAX. is a cheap copy of the "Good Times" hoax and the "Deeyenda" hoax, and several others. Spread the word to all you forwarded a warning to! Don't Cry Wolf! How do I know its a hoax? 12 years exploring and fighting viruses on various OS's 10 years internet experience 6 years writing low level TCP/IP (internet) software For the more information check out: 1."Good Times" http://www.hr.doe.gov/goodtime.html 2. Deeyenda, Irina, and Ghost http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/h-05.shtml Anyway, there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY** for an e-mail message to infect your computer with a virus just by reading it. The reasons are technical, but it boils down to this: ONLY EXECUTABLE FILES CAN CARRY VIRUSES. E-MAIL, USENET and other data files are NOT EXECUTABLE. Note however, that it IS possible to download an executable program through e-mail, or through your web browser. For heaven's sake DON'T RUN A PROGRAM FROM A SOURCE YOU DON'T HAVE VERY GOOD REASON TO TRUST! If your browser or e-mail reader does not ask you permission before it runs a downloaded program, THROW THAT BROWSER OR READER AWAY! It's no more useful than a door to your house that can't keep anyone out. Furthermore, some messages include executable Macros, that run on word processors or other applications. These have exactly the same issues as other executable files included in messages. And here are some authoritative sources of information. 1.Computer Emergency Response Team 2.Computer Incident Advisory Capability Why not cry wolf? Why not "err on the side of caution?" First, remember the Aesop's Fable. You will loose credibility giving a warning that later turns out to be false. Especially when the hoax depends on people not knowing about viruses and the internet. Second, you are promoting general anxiety about computers and the internet which convinces users that such things are dangerous and difficult, and should be avoided. Third, You miss the opportunity to use new tools and technology. For example, some managers are saying things like "Don't read messages from the internet, you could put a virus on our network." Fourth, You are throwing dirt in our own feeding trough. If we want make money selling Internet solutions, we should not be promoting the idea that internet technologies are catastrophically dangerous. I have been maintain information on internet hoaxes for several years. My web page, http://www.csmil.umich.edu/~chymes/newusers/Think.html Has been recognized by Yahoo, Information Age, America Online, The United State Department of Commerce, and several print newspapers and magazines as a useful site to debunk internet hoaxes. PLEASE READ THIS for more information. Thank You! Charles Hymes Sr. Human Factors Engineer Hewlett-Packard Company 408-447-2340 ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Fwd: Virus Alert Author: ABDUL HALABIEH at HP-Cupertino,om4 Date: 11/27/96 2:47 PM ______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________ Subject: Fwd: Virus Alert >>Virus Alert. >> >> If anyone receives mail entitled: PENPAL GREETINGS! please delete it >> WITHOUT reading it. Below is a little explanation of the message, and >> what it would do to your PC if you were to read the message. >> >> This is a warning for all Internet users - there is a dangerous virus >> propagating across the Internet >> through an e-mail message entitled "PENPAL GREETINGS!". DO NOT >> DOWNLOAD ANY MESSAGE ENTITLED "PENPAL GREETINGS!" >> >> This message appears to be a friendly letter asking you if you are >> interested in a penpal, but by the time you read this letter, it is >> too late. The "trojan horse" virus will have already infected the >> boot sector of your hard drive, destroying all of the data present. >> It is a self-replicating virus, and once >> the message is read, it will AUTOMATICALLY forward itself to anyone >> who's e-mail address is present in YOUR mailbox! >> >> This virus will DESTROY your hard drive, and holds the potential to >> DESTROY the hard drive of anyone whose mail is in your inbox, and >> who's mail is in their inbox, and so on. If this virus remains >> unchecked, >> it has the potential to do a great deal of DAMAGE to computer networks >> worldwide!!!! >> >> Please, delete the message entitled "PENPAL GREETINGS!" as soon as you >> see it! And pass this message along to all of your friends and >> relatives, and the other readers of the newsgroups and mailing lists >> which you are on, >> so that they are not hurt by this dangerous virus!!!! >> > Paula _____________________________________________________________ Paula Peplow phn: (415) 506-3553 Assistant to John Entenmann fax: (415) 506-7412 Decision Support & UI Design email: ppeplow@us.oracle.com _____________________________________________________________