From: Carolyn Meier (cmeier@acf.dhhs.gov)
Date: Fri Mar 29 1996 - 11:42:03 EST
Forwarded to: Internet[b-greek@virginia.edu]
cc:
Comments by: Eric Weiss@OSP@ACF.DAL
Comments:
We got this VIRUS ALERT! message at the office today.
-------------------------- [Original Message] -------------------------
The Region III System Administrator has shared the following notice with us.
Please read this notice and share with e-mail correspondents.
SUBJECT: VIRUSES--IMPORTANT PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY
There is a computer virus that is being sent across the Internet.
If you receive an e-mail message with the subject line:
"Good Times"
DO NOT read the message, DELETE it immediately. Please read the
messages below. Some miscreant is sending e-mail under the title
"Good Times" nation wide, if you get anything like this, DON'T
DOWN LOAD THE FILE! It has a virus that rewrites your hard
drive, obliterating anything on it. Please be careful and forward
this mail to anyone you care about.
*****************************************************
WARNING!!!!!!! INTERNET VIRUS
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 AMERICA ON
LINE that is unparalleled in its 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 of the Internet. Once a Computer is
infected, one of several things can happen. If the computer
contains a hard drive, 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
severely 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 email message with the subject line reading
"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 initialize and execute.
The program is highly intelligent - it will send copies of
itself to everyone whose e-mail address is contained in a
receive-mail file or a sent-mail file, if it can find one. The
bottom line here is - if you receive a file with the subject
line "Good Times", delete it immediately! Do not read it.
Rest assured that whoever's name was on the "From" lin
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.
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