RE: [GardeningAdvice] virus warning!!!!!!!!

Richard and others on the List,

The e-mail you posted here, and apparently to everyone in your address book,
is a hoax.  Should you, or anyone, receive an e-mail of this type, you
should first check it out on one of the many virus hoax sites on the
internet.  The following is from the CIAC (http://HoaxBusters.ciac.org) hoax
site, and will help you decide whether an e-mail you receive is a hoax or
not:

=================================

How to Recognize a Hoax

Probably the first thing  you should notice about a warning is the request
to "send this to everyone you know" or some variant of that statement. This
should raise a red flag that the warning is probably a hoax. No real warning
message from a credible source will tell you to send this to everyone you
know.

Next, look at what makes a successful hoax. There are two known factors that
make a successful hoax, they are:

     (1)  technical sounding language.
     (2)  credibility by association.

If the warning uses the proper technical jargon, most individuals, including
technologically savvy individuals, tend to believe the warning is real. For
example, the Good Times hoax says that "...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...". The first time you read
this, it sounds like it might be something real. With a little research, you
find that there is no such thing as an nth-complexity infinite binary loop
and that processors are designed to run loops for weeks at a time without
damage.

When we say credibility by association we are referring to who sent the
warning. If the janitor at a large technological organization sends a
warning to someone outside of that organization, people on the outside tend
to believe the warning because the company should know about those things.
Even though the person sending the warning may not have a clue what he is
talking about, the prestige of the company backs the warning, making it
appear real. If a manager at the company sends the warning, the message is
doubly backed by the company's and the manager's reputations.

Both of these items make it very difficult to claim a warning is a hoax so
you must do your homework to see if the claims are real and if the person
sending out the warning is a real person and is someone who would know what
they are talking about. You do need to be a little careful verifying the
person as the apparent author may be a real person who has nothing to do
with the hoax. If thousands of people start sending them mail asking if the
message is real, that essentially constitutes an unintentional denial of
service attack on that person. Check the person's web site or the person's
company web site to see if the hoax has been responded to there. Check these
pages or the pages of other hoax sites to see if we have already declared
the warning a hoax.

==========================

Now, Richard, what should you do.  Had you recognized this as a hoax from
the beginning, you would have sent a message like this to the person who
sent the hoax to you, and been done with it.  However, you did not recognize
this as a hoax.  I would suggest that you send a note of apology to each and
every person who received this message from you notifying them that the
message you sent was a hoax and begging forgiveness for being so duped.  You
may wish to include the above to help them to recognize the hoaxes that they
may be sent as a means for setting things right.

All of you may further wonder why I happen to know such things, like hoaxes
and whatnot about computers.  It is my business.  I also maintain a dozen
e-mail addresses, and belong to a number of lists, so I do see these things
more than the average person does, as well as being questioned about them by
my clients.  You can also go out to the site I mentioned above, or one of
the many other sites available to check this particular hoax out.  I did it
by going through the list of viruses (virii for the nit pickers) included in
the e-mail, though the construction of the text portion was enough to give
it away.

\\Steve//
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-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Roderick [r*@prodigy.net]
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2000 12:19 PM
To: WANTINGBAD WANTINGBAD; Tuck McConnell; Trounble387@Juno.Com;
Thomas_Kaiser; Shelby Cochran; Sandy Frazer;
Round_Robin_Gardening@egroups.com; Rott-n-kids@egroups.com; Ronnie;
Ripper; Richard Rosenbaum; Richard Roderick; Rich Joyce;
Rhapsody1924@aol.com; Renea tobias; Ray Farr; Randy Morris;
Pjm@Infonline.Net; Phil Taylor; PF Lowery; PEPE CHAVEZ; Paul Chitwood;
Patty Johnson; Pat Haley; Nick Willey; Mvargo1@Bellsouth.Net;
Mona6996@Adultfriendfinder.Com; Mike Whitener; McGarvie, Harriet L.;
Marthaesch@Yahoo.Com; Mark Demery; Marcus Duprees; Lydia Kaney;
Lottopol@Aol.Com; Linn020276@Hotmail.Com; LEONARD RAMBO; Leo Smith;
Kolobazi@Yahoo.Com; Kenny Rodgers; Ken Braam; Keith Hardyman;
JudyScf@aol.com; J'Taun Plaster; John Pipkin; John Nolen; John Nahra;
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Tech Support; Hummers@Topica.Com; Gunner Balderama; Grainger.com; Glenn
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1gardening@Egroups.Com
Subject: [GardeningAdvice] virus warning!!!!!!!!




-----Original Message-----
From: Krayuss@aol.com [K*@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2000 7:00 PM
To: JSPR1327@aol.com; funwlbj@ncweb.com; bdrem@localnet.com;
bmax@pa.net; BURNINPOTS@aol.com; cheisey@webtv.net;
Beanieluver78@aol.com; ServiceStr@aol.com; jspadaf@yahoo.com;
LIGIRL220@aol.com; Jag942@aol.com; Wakeupjoey@aol.com;
ArizonaSkyy@aol.com; JShober@ATT.net; kthomas@ureach.com;
KLFLYERSFAN@aol.com; WGlide95@aol.com; Ljpebbles@aol.com;
Japarella@aol.com; TINMAN585@aol.com; Alone57528@aol.com;
Shannon.Whitson@law.widener.edu; wofat@mindspring.com; DJGBB55@aol.com;
RedPearl98@aol.com; TMon2263@aol.com; CHEFVLB@aol.com
Subject: This is no Joke!!!!


> 10/8/00
>
>
> >VIRUS WITH NO CURE"
> >PLEASE, SEND THIS INFORMATION TO EVERY PERSON IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
> >IF YOU RECEIVE AN E-MAIL THAT READS "UPGRADE INTERNET2"
> >DO NOT OPEN IT, AS IT CONTAINS AN EXECUTABLE NAMED "PERRIN.EXE." IT
> >WILL ERASE ALL THE DATA IN YOUR HARD DRIVE AND IT WILL STAY IN MEMORY.
> >EVERY TIME THAT YO UPLOAD ANY DATA, IT WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ERASED
> >AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE YOUR COMPUTER AGAIN. THIS INFORMATION WAS
> >PUBLISHED YESTERDAY IN THE CNN WEB SITE.
> >THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS VIRUS.  TO THIS DATE, THERE IS NO KNOWN
> >ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM FOR THIS PARTICULAR VIRUS PLEASE, FORWARD THIS
> >INFORMATION TO YOUR FRIENDS, SO THAT THEY WILL BE ON THE ALERT.
> >ALSO CHECK THE LIST BELOW, SENT BY IBM, WITH THE NAMES OF SOME E-MAILS
> >THAT, IF RECEIVED, SHOULD NOT BE OPENED AND MUST BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY,
> >BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN ATTACHED VIRUSES. THIS WAY YOUR COMPUTER WILL BE
> SAFE.
> >THE TITLES ARE:
> >1) buddylst.exe
> >2) calcu18r.exe
> >3) deathpr.exe
> >4) einstein.exe
> >5) happ.exe
> >6) girls.exe
> >7) happy99.exe
> >8) japanese.exe
> >9) keypress.exe
> >10) kitty.exe
> >11) monday.exe
> >12) teletubb.exe
> >13) The Phantom Menace
> >14) prettypark.exe
> >15) UP-GRADE INTERNET2
> >16) perrin.exe
> >17) I love You
> >18) CELCOM Screen Saver or CELSAVER.EXE
> >19) Win a Holiday (e-mail)
> >20) JOIN THE CREW O PENPALS
> >ONCE AGAIN, DO NOT OPEN THESE E-MAILS AND PASS THIS



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