Are these virus threats for real?

[stuart.reinke]

Hi everyone.

I get email like this forwarded to me all the time from well meaning friends who don't know that I couldn't care less about the latest virus threatening to destroy every Windows computer on the planet. :)

In fact I get them often enough that I'm starting to wonder if they are even real warnings, or a prank to get people all worked up and more paranoid about their email.

Anyway, what do you think. Real or Hoax?

Subject:
> HUGE VIRUS COMING
>
>
> Don't know if it is true or not,
> but it is better to not take that chance!
>
> Subject: HUGE VIRUS COMING ! PLEASE
> READ & FORWARD !
>
>
> HUGE VIRUS COMING ! PLEASE READ & FORWARD !
>
> PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY
> AND CONTACTS!
>
> You should be alert during the next few days.
> Do not open any message with an attachment entitled
> 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,'regardless of who sent it
> to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which
> 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer.
>
> This virus will be received from someone who
> has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the
> reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your
> contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than
> to receive the virus and open it.
>
> If you receive a mail called'
> POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not
> open it! Shut down your computer
> immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN.
>
> It has been classified by Microsoft as the most
> destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee
> yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of
> virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the
> Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.
>
> COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR
> FRIENDS.
> REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL
> BENEFIT ALL OF US


Either way I'm grateful that I have a /hda1 instead of a C: :lolflag:

[andras artois]

LMAO, so a picture file can now wreck your hard drive without being run or downloaded? HAHA. It's a shame some people are so uneducated that they actually believe this kind of rubbish.

[keplerspeed]

I think this 'virus' has been around for a while. What you have there is the real virus...

[Grishka]

whatever you do, DON'T forward this e-mail to anyone. look (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus_hoax), and look (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_letter).

[pricetech]

Here's how I determine the legitimacy of such things:

If any portion of the message is in ALL CAPS it's a crock.
If it says "forward" it's a crock.
If "fwd" appears in the subject line it's a crock.
If it uses words like "worst ever" it's a crock.
If it invokes names like CNN, USA Today, MS, etc. it's a crock.

If it comes from my sister, it's a crock. Which is to say I've seen more than my share of these "virus warnings". My brothers and I all chastised her about them and at one point I thought she had gotten the message because she quit sending them out. Turns out she just quit sending them to us.

Humans will be humans. Some of the most successful forms or malware are based entirely on social engineering.

[stuart.reinke]

LMAO, so a picture file can now wreck your hard drive without being run or downloaded? HAHA. It's a shame some people are so uneducated that they actually believe this kind of rubbish.

If it's real, the attachment is probably an .exe file that displays a picture while it runs.

I think it's a hoax. Last month I got almost the exact same warning regarding an email with picture of Osama Bin Laden's public hanging. (first clue, he's never been found)

[fela]

What I'm most worried about is the fact that you have /dev somehow mounted at /...or so you say.

[keplerspeed]

If the world is about to end due to THE WORST VIRUS EVER SEEN EVER ON ANY COMPUTER BURN FIRE OMG FORWARD THIS.... you will hear about it. From legit sources, like.. UFs! But as you can see.... not always....

[howefield]

Anyway, what do you think. Real or Hoax?

Usually this type of "chain letter" is a hoax, designed to be viral like and spread, but will not damage your machine.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/virus.asp

The only damage is to the gullible and misinformed that do not know any better, who generally pass them on and quote them word for word.....

[stuart.reinke]

What I'm most worried about is the fact that you have /dev somehow mounted at /...or so you say.

Either way I'm grateful that I have a /dev/hda1 instead of a C:

Happy now, I figured someone would have to correct me for saving a few keystrokes. :)

At least please tell me that you knew what I ment.:)

[keplerspeed]

I knew what you ment. You ment: not windows. Not C:

[blueturtl]

I've heard from an executive class worker that some hackers are in fact so leet, that they can hack in to your computer while it's turned off if it's still plugged into the electrical grid.

I tried to tell him it's impossible to access anything on a hard-disk if it's not spinning, but he would not hear of it. :)

[scottuss]

It always makes me smile (never shocked) that people actually have to look twice at these things. I get really annoyed when a friend forwards one of these to me and lots of other people. I always reply all stating that it's not real, I would have thought it was obvious but never mind.

Needless to say my friends don't send these any more (not to me anyway!) :P

[ayenack]

The mail is most likely the virus. Never ever open unsolicited mail.

[marchwarden]

It always makes me smile (never shocked) that people actually have to look twice at these things.

I think a lot of it could be put down to social engineering.

[Swagman]

C & P from my sent box (must empty it sometime)



> > >> This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been
> classified by
> > >> Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus
> was discovered
> > >> by
> > >> McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this
> kind of virus. This
> > >> virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc,
> where the vital
> > >> information is kept.
> > >>
> > >> COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER:
> IF YOU SEND IT
> > >> TO
> > >> THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________ ____________
> Try Facebook in Windows Live Messenger! Try it Now!
>

Now you know why I DON'T use windows !!

UBUNTU For The Win ( Uninfectable from Virii, Trojans, Malware,
Keyloggers.. and it's FREE)


I sent that out on a "Reply to all" . He had about 50 names on the list !!

And on another....
















(ALERT)













THIS IS VERY SERIOUS, PLEASE SEND EVERYONE ON YOUR E-MAIL LIST!



Anyone-using Internet mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and so on.

This information arrived this morning, direct from both Microsoft and Norton.

Please send it to everybody you know who has access to the Internet.

You may receive an apparently harmless e-mail titled 'Mail Server Report'

If you open either file, a message will appear on your screen saying:
'It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful.'

Subsequently, you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC, and the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, e-mail and passwords.

This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon.

AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the anti virus software's are not capable of destroying
it.

The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself 'life owner'.

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Ask them to
PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY!

THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY SNOPES.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/mailserver.asp






>
And I reply to all with :

The answer, as always is... If you must Numptyfy yourself by using ANY version of windows then DeNumptyfy yourself by installing Ubuntu via wubi. The following link explains all.

http://wubi-installer.org/

Basically you install this within windows (so it can be easily removed whenever you want). When installed you reboot and are given a choice whether to boot into Windows or Ubuntu (Linux).

Any "normal online activity" (surfing the internet - email etc) should be done using Ubuntu as NO windows viruses, Malware, Trojans.. ALL the crap stuff for windows.. Will work in Ubuntu. NO antivirus required.. No defrag required.. No Windows required lol !!

Only boot into windows to play games. It IS a Toy O/s after all.


Oh, and NO you DON'T need to recompile or use the command line.

Your call


Regards
Paul

[janmae]

just a chain letter,delete it

[scottuss]

@Swagman

I wish I'd thought of that. Lol. Denumptyfy, I like it :)

[Sporkman]

What you have there is the real virus...

Exactly. :)

[hockeytux]

C & P from my sent box (must empty it sometime)



I sent that out on a "Reply to all" . He had about 50 names on the list !!

And on another....



I like it how you said virii instead of viruses :)

[RabbitWho]

I have a gmail filter set up that deletes anything with FWD in the title. I've missed a few important forwards about flight details etc. because of it.. but it's totally worth it.

OMG TRUE STORY READ THIS IT'S TOTALLY REAL I DIDN:T BELEIVE IT EITHER BUT IT IS TURTH OMG

This girl fell asleep in her night gown and then when she woke up she was PREGNANT with SATAN and all becoz when she lived in this house that was like haunted because some people died there and stuff and if you get this message you have to send it to 10 people because otherwise the deamons from the house will stay in your computer.

[sydbat]

I've heard from an executive class worker that some hackers are in fact so leet, that they can hack in to your computer while it's turned off if it's still plugged into the electrical grid.

I tried to tell him it's impossible to access anything on a hard-disk if it's not spinning, but he would not hear of it. :)I remember a few years ago, someone at our church was asked if they had a computer so something could be emailed to them.

This person did have a computer, but they were sooooo paranoid that they didn't let anyone near it (because they could put a virus on it by simply touching it), didn't have Internet access (because of what you described), had it locked in a closet so no one else could use it and, after turning it on to write a note (or whatever...they didn't have any peripherals attached so I wonder what became of these notes), they unplugged it after turning it off (yup...by the power switch).

It ran Windows 95 and this person wondered why it kept having problems when it was turned on (about once every 2 or 3 weeks). I tried to tell them (um...we all know the reason...as mentioned above), but they were convinced it had to do with it simply being on and someone was able to "get into it" when they had it plugged in. Even though I said that was impossible, they decided to not use it anymore. So, instead of recycling the computer or giving it to someone who might be able to use it, it is still locked in a closet, unplugged, collecting dust and keeping the Internets safe...

[JillSwift]

I have a gmail filter set up that deletes anything with FWD in the title. I've missed a few important forwards about flight details etc. because of it.. but it's totally worth it.

OMG TRUE STORY READ THIS IT'S TOTALLY REAL I DIDN:T BELEIVE IT EITHER BUT IT IS TURTH OMG

This girl fell asleep in her night gown and then when she woke up she was PREGNANT with SATAN and all becoz when she lived in this house that was like haunted because some people died there and stuff and if you get this message you have to send it to 10 people because otherwise the deamons from the house will stay in your computer.
That's odd, when I heard the story she was PREGNANT with SATIN. OMG TOO CHEEP FOR SILK! FWD THIS TO 10 OTHUR PEEPL WHO HAVE SHEETS WITH LESS THN 400 THREAD COUNT!

=^_^=;

[tom66]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Torch_%28virus_hoax%29

[el mariachi]

since we all use Linux... err.. what's the matter? lol sometimes I actually open those .exe files that hotmail (I also have gmail you ms haters :p) desperatly tells me are infected, just for fun :D it's amazing actually

I love you penguin :3

[aaaantoine]

I've heard from an executive class worker that some hackers are in fact so leet, that they can hack in to your computer while it's turned off if it's still plugged into the electrical grid.

I tried to tell him it's impossible to access anything on a hard-disk if it's not spinning, but he would not hear of it. :)

If the computer supports Wake-on-LAN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN) and it's enabled, it is possible to start it up remotely.

The thing about these virus warnings is they all play the "WILL DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER AND EVERYTHING ON IT!" card, when the real danger is in what modern malware usually does:
1. Steal any sensitive information you type into -- or have stored on -- your computer
2. Keep the computer running so that the unsuspecting user just thinks that his/her computer is "slow".
3. Continue to act as part of a botnet that does the hacker's bidding.

[BuffaloX]

My mom used to get lots of these false virus warnings, which are in fact a sort of manual virus in themselves.

She had some friends working in some big offices, with some big maillists, they apparently tended to warn each other every single time they received such hoaxes.

Now she has told them she is immune because she runs Linux, and after more than a year, she finally doesn´t receive those stupid hoax warnings anymore.

Of course Linux is no more immune to this sort of ???? than any other OS, but it helped make them understand she didn´t want those fake warnings.

[bodyharvester]

can i have a pet virus? :P

[chriskin]

can i have a pet virus? :P

exactly what i thought:)

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/network.png

[bodyharvester]

do they need much attention? i bet you feed them an email address 3 times a day ;) and they poop in the ports:lolflag:

[chriskin]

they get to know how to hunt those email addresses by themselves , so you don't have to take care of them, just admire them :)

[bodyharvester]

so its nothing like a Tamagotchi then :( remember those? i could keep a rabbit alive for about 9 days

[chriskin]

you are right :S
viruses are boring
i'll get a cat or something like that. cats come in 3d as well :)

[bodyharvester]

ive already got a cat, he only shows love when he thinks hes getting fed again, that thing about cats being elitist is true

you dont get a cat, a cat gets you ;)

[chriskin]

ive already got a cat, he only shows love when he thinks hes getting fed again, that thing about cats being elitist is true

you dont get a cat, a cat gets you ;)

what kind of cat is it?

[bodyharvester]

black :| and white paws, a little white round the nose like the Felix cat that advertises the food Felix

i dont really know anything about breeds, he has fur, so not the furless kind :confused:

not a persian either, theyre all white n fluffly, i think

[chriskin]

i really like cats like this one "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y0mmhvYNQ80/RyVYsNRgBAI/AAAAAAAAAW4/bOFZzOsd0-E/s400/Black%2BCat.jpg"

i think yours has more fur though eh?

[bodyharvester]

not more fur exactly, just fatter, so it looks like he has more fur, and the little bits of white

hes sort of like ion the image i attached except hes much rounder and the white doesnt go so far up his face

[longtom]

not more fur exactly, just fatter, so it looks like he has more fur, and the little bits of white

hes sort of like ion the image i attached except hes much rounder and the white doesnt go so far up his face

Oh - I have exactly the same.. Also has fur but is read with some white and some darker stripes. The other one is 3 coloured (Insiders call it a tortoiseshell) and we got them both from the SPCA.
We were assured that these are 100% pavement specials. I get the feeling yours might be one as well....:P

[aaaantoine]

Hm, this thread has gone from virus hoax emails to cats.

[chriskin]

Hm, this thread has gone from virus hoax emails to cats.

don't you think that cats are both more interesting and a way cleverer topic than the "virus" ?:popcorn:

[RabbitWho]

Here's my cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PukFjPhsNg&

[Penguin Guy]

It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday...

No mention of this virus can be found on the Microsoft or McAfee websites (other than forum posts). Fake.

[dmizer]

Okay, this thread has clearly run its course.

Thank you all for participating.