posted on January 7, 2007 12:01:35 PM new
I just got this from my sis in Canada.
She just verified this with Snopes and it is REAL.
PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE
Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the
moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will
not be able to fix it!
If you get an email along the lines of "Osama Bin Laden Captured"
or "Osama Hanged" don't open the attachment.
This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe, but
mainly in the US and Israel
Be considerate &send this warning to whomever you know.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
You should be alert during the next days:
Do not open any message with an attached filed called
"Invitation" regardless of who sent it.
It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch 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, that is why you should 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 "invitation", though sent by a friend, do
not open it and 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.
posted on January 7, 2007 12:16:55 PM newOLD HOAX:
per TREND-MICRO:
"This email hoax warns users that email messages offering pictures of Osama Bin Laden hanged or captured contain a destructive virus that causes affected systems to crash.
While the said email messages have been used by several malware, this warning, or variations of this warning, are already outdated. Users are therefore advised to keep their antivirus software up-to-date, and to refrain from forwarding similar messages to other users."
Unless ya haven't updated yer anti-virus sw x 2002 :
Summary of the eRumor
There are at aleast a couple of versions of this eRumor. One warns that an email that claims to include pictures of Osama Bin Laden's suicide is actually designed to trick you into opening a file that contains a virus. Another says that it's the worst virus every known and will crash your hard drive.
The Truth
There is no Osama Bin Laden suicide or any suicide photos, but one of the emails claiming to have the pictures is actually carrying a virus. The goal of the email is to trick recipients into clicking the attached file. That unleashes a Trojan Hose type virus that makes it possible for the virus writers to take over your computer and use it as a messenger for reaching other computers. It is similar to the Anna Kournikova virus that circulated before this one and tried to lure recipients into clicking the file by offering nude photos. The folks at Sophos Anti-Virus classed it as VBS/Nedal-A and say it's been around since 2002. For more details, go to:
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=99686
In June, 2002, a corrupted version of this Osama Bin Laden warning started circulating along with a virus warning that is an old hoax. It claimed that if you opened the attachment to the Osama Bin Laden email you would get a virus that will destroy your hard drive. That is not true. Then the eRumor also talks about an "Invitation" or "Olympic Torch" virus, which does not exist and is a hoax."
posted on January 7, 2007 01:44:16 PM new
Apparently it was too subtle, because you don't get it either.
How do you expect people to learn, Tom, if you don't tell them what's going on?
The email is the virus in the vast majority of cases. If there's anything you feel a burning need to tell all and sundry out of concern for them, tell them that.
posted on January 7, 2007 01:56:57 PM new
In simpler terms:
The whole point of emails such as niel35 posted is to get you to forward it to everyone you know, because naturally you are concerned about their welfare.
You might ask: Why would anyone want to cause that to happen?
The cascade effect of chain letters and other types of viral email can clog mail servers and fill up individual mailboxes so that legitimate email can't get through.
It's called a denial-of-service attack.
eBay sellers should be particularly cognizant of and sensitive to this because if a buyer's inbox is full, your EOA won't get through.
There's also the desensitizing effect of receiving large amounts of this null-content email. It makes it more likely the recipient will overlook or delete legitimate email.
posted on January 7, 2007 02:25:12 PM new
Maybe she is a doofus but she sent it out of concern for me. She is a newby on the Internet and this kind of scared her. She's 77 and it doesn't take much. I told her not to send it to anyone else. I knew someone on EO would know something about it.
posted on January 7, 2007 03:33:49 PM new
niel - I don't think agit is REALLY badmouthing your sister - I think it's PC users (as opposed to MACs) in general. I think she is doing great to start on the internet at 77 and don't blame her for being concerned.
-------------------------------------
posted on January 7, 2007 03:51:44 PM new
I don't think so either Neglus. You Americans love to rib us Canadians. We are used to it and take it in good fun.
posted on January 7, 2007 05:59:11 PM new
Not to put to fine a point on it or anything, but you don't need your caplocks key. They're Macs, not MACS. Mac is short for Macintosh, MAC on the other hand stands for Media Access Control, and is found on all computers, regardless of operating system.
OP: do your sister a favor and teach her how to look stuff up on Snopes.com before she forwards it. I know she didn't really do that, as I get this email about every three months and it starts out with "so and so checked this out on snopes and it's real.."
posted on January 7, 2007 07:33:32 PM new
Doesn't matter where either of you are. Just tell her to go to snopes.com and enter a snippet of text from the suspect forward into their search command. A title or phrase from the beginning of the mail will usually do. When I enter "Invitation virus warning" there, here's what I get:
:
