Watchter and the evel empire is out to get you

GODLOVESME

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST!! A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive ever. This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee . This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital information for its functioning are stored. This virus acts in the following manner: It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title: "You've received a Post Card from a Family member". As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened the computer freezes so that the user has to reboot. When the ctrl+alt+ del keys or the reset button are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the hard disk. Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic in New York , according to news broadcast by CNN. This alert was received by an employee of Microsoft itself. So don't open any mails with subject: "A Post Card from ..." As soon as you get the mail, delete it !! Even if you know the sender !!! Please pass this mail to all of your friends. Forward this to everyone in your address book. I'm sure most people, like myself, would rather receive this notice 25 times than not at All

Hortensia

I googled this warning - got lots of sites like this one: http://virusbusters.itcs.umich.edu//hoaxes/virtual.html saying that this warning is a hoax.

heathen

Yah I think my aunt was already victim of that . She had to put a new hard drive in afterward . I really hate people that do that stuff to other peoples property just because they know you can't stop them .

Bonnie_Clyde

I just looked at my deleted messages. I found one I never opened from July 28 saying, "You've received a postcard from a colleague." I'm glad I never opened it. Does simply opening the message cause a virus or is it opening an attachment?

Sad emo

Don't get confused.

This is a GENUINE one - only found in the last couple of weeks:

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

This is a hoax one:

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

They look similar so I wouldn't open anything that looks like either if they arrive in my inbox.

Leolaia

Actually, it is a hoax but it uses the name of a real virus instead of fake one. The virus is real, but it does not do the things mentioned in the message (i.e. destroying sector zero on restart) which come from the original hoax. The mention of CNN and panic in New York are from the hoax and are not real.

Little Drummer Boy

Does simply opening the message cause a virus or is it opening an attachment?

Depending on the version of operating system you have, the version and type of email software you are using, and whether or not you are using an antivirus program tha actively scans emails (and happens to have the ability to catch the virus in question), yes, embedded programming code can execute just by opening in the preview pane when you click on the message header.

However, since this is one of the most dangerous avenues for virus deployment (since all you have to do is just recieve the email and view the message), most updated modern software is automatically set to block this sort of thing. To protect yourself, use a modern operating system (and if it is a desktop PC for gosh damn sake run the friggin' updates!), use a good antivirus program and keep it updated (and run the scans!), and don't jack around with the security settings of your operating system unless you know what you are doing. As long as you do those things and are reasonably responsible in your surfing and email habits you'll be OK. Still watch out for attachments and obviously pay attention to any pop-ups you get while online. Don't just randomly click yes or no on pop-ups without reading and understanding what you are clicking on (this is one of the biggest sources of infestations of malicious code, the not paying atttention to pop-ups questions). OK, I'll shut up now.

Sad emo

Thanks for that info LDB

We've had a few of the "e-greetings/postcards" at work but I never open the attatchments or click the links and delete them immediately (before they're marked as 'read') - and yet I had 3 I-worm/Stration viruses in quarantine the other day when I checked - I couldn't work out where/how the antivirus program had found them but your post explains :-)

ex-nj-jw

Thanks for the info LDB!

nj

Bonnie_Clyde

Thanks from me to....

Watchter and the evel empire is out to get you

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