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Date:         Wed, 23 Apr 1997 09:35:22 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Ron Lussier <coyote@likeminds.com>
Subject:      Re: virus.CONFIRMED BY US.DEPT.OF ENERGY

At 11:20 AM 4/23/97 -0500, Roy I Mathers wrote: >NEW YORK-A COMPUTER VIRUS IS CIRCULATING ON THE INTERNET WITH THE >ENTICING NAME OF AOL4FREE.COMTHAT DESTROYS FILES ON USERS'HARD >DRIVES,THE US DEPT OF ENERGY SAYS. > THE DOE SAID THE"TROJAN HORSE"PROGRAM DISGUISED WITHIN ANOTHER >PROGRAM THAT SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT UNSUSPECTINGLY DOWNLOAD.IT THEN >ATTACKS THE USERS SYSTEM OR BREAKS THE SECURITY.QUICKLY PRESSING THE >"CONTROL= C" KEYS WILL SAVE SOME OF THE FILES ,THE DOESAID IN A REPORT >LAST WEEK ON THE VIRUS,WHICH WAS FIRST DISCLOSED ON AMERICA ONLINE >E-MAIL LAST MONTH. > THE PROGRAM-WHICH CAN ATTACK ANY DOS,WINDOWS 95, OR WINDOWS >3.1OPERATING SYSTEM-ALSO COULD IMPLANT OBSCENE MESSAGES.

Everyone remember:

1. A virus like program can not spread in an e-mail message. While an infected program could be attached to an e-mail message, the e-mail message itself cannot contain one in any form that could be executed.

2. A virus or Trojan horse program can not infect a system by simply being read. The current mail readers do not execute an e-mail message, they display it on the screen for you to read. You must take care when downloading an attachment to an e-mail message. In some mail readers you can double click on the attachment icon to have it extracted and opened by whatever program created it. If that attachment is a program, it is downloaded and run, and running any program you have not scanned could cause you to be infected with a virus.

3. What Roy is describing is a Trojan horse program. That Trojan horse is attached to an e-mail message and if the reader downloads and executes the Trojan horse program, it will do the damage described in Roy's message.

For more information on the AOL4FREE trojan horse, see http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/h-47a.shtml

Coyote -- /\_/\ ____ Ron 'Coyote' Lussier ( ) \ _/__ LikeMinds (408) 865-0657 \ / \X / "Tools that Help People Decide" coyote@likeminds.com \_/ \/ http://www.likeminds.com/


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