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Coblist: Virus warning - READ ME FIRSTShannon C. Dealy dealy at deatech.comTue May 4 01:10:23 CDT 1999
A message was received on the coblist a short time ago that contains a computer virus (of sorts - technically it is called a "worm"). It has the following header information: Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 06:22:17 +0200 From: robden at mweb.co.za Message-ID: <199905040422.GAA05699 at quantum.mweb.co.za> Subject: Cob Woodshavings There are actually two messages with the same subject name from this individual, the one with the above message ID contains an attachment called "Happy99.exe". If you execute this attachment (by opening it) from your mail program on a Microsoft Windows (or possibly DOS) system, you will infect your computer with it. Your system CANNOT be infected unless you open the attachment. Please DO NOT send nasty mail to "robden at mweb.co.za", it is not this person's fault, they are just an unwitting victim of the worm. If you do execute the program, it will show you a small fireworks display on your computer screen (so I hear), and then install itself on your computer. Once installed on your computer, it will monitor your outgoing mail and then periodically send itself to others who you send email to. Because these people will think you sent them this program, and since they presumeably trust you, they will run it and infect their computer. If you did execute the program, or were already infected (such as robden at mweb.co.za is), then you will need to remove the worm. A quick search of the net will find lots of web pages on the subject, one such page from a company that specializes in this kind of thing is: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/happy99.worm.html The safest approach is to never execute ANY program received from the internet unless you have verified the source of the program, and even then you should periodically check your system for computer viruses, worms, etc.. Some of you will not receive this message, because your service provider has software installed that blocks messages infected with this worm. I am sorry for this, but I am not currently setup to filter the coblist for infected messages. There is a minimal facility available to me with which I think I can filter this particular critter, but there will always be others to watch out for, it is just one of the hazards of being on the internet. Shannon C. Dealy | DeaTech Research Inc. dealy at deatech.com | - Custom Software Development - | Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications | www.deatech.com
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