Hoax Warnings


	Alphabetical Index

NAME:

Good Times hoax

The Good Times hoax warning about a non-existent e-mail virus has been going around for two years already. There have been several versions of this hoax, including Irina, PKZIP300 and Deeyenda Maddick. Here's an example of an authentic Deeyenda Maddick hoax warning, which has been passed on via e-mail in the Internet:

  ******** VIRUS ALERT ******
  VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION: PLEASE READ !

  There is a computer virus that is being sent across the
  Internet. If you receive an email message with the subject line
  "Deeyenda", DO NOT read the message, DELETE it immediately.
  Please read the messages below. Some miscreant is sending email
  under the title "Deeyenda" nationwide, if you get anything like
  this DON'T DOWNLOAD THE FILE! It has a virus that rewrites your
  hard drive, obliterating anything on it. Please be careful and
  forward this mail to anyone you care about.

  FCC WARNING !!!!! ----- DEEYENDA PLAGUES INTERNET ----

  The internet community has again been plagued by another
  computer virus. This message is being spread throughout the
  internet, including USENET posting, EMAIL, and other interent
  activities.. The reason for all the attention is because of the
  nature of this virus and the potential security risks it makes.
  Instead of a destructive trojan virus (most viruses!), this
  virus, referred to as Deeyenda Maddick, performs a
  comprehensive search on your computer, looking for valuable
  information, such as email and login passwords, credit cards,
  personal info, etc. The Deeyenda virus also has the capability
  to stay memory resident while running a host of applications
  and operation systems, such as Windows 3.11 and Windows 95.

  What this means to internet users is that when a login and
  PASSWORD are sent to the server, this virus can COPY this
  information and SEND IT OUT TO AN UNKNOWN ADDRESS (varies).

  The reason for this warning is because the Deeyenda virus is
  virtually undetectable. Once attacked, your computer will be
  unsecure. Although it can attack any O/S, this virus is most
  likely to attack those users viewing Java enhanced Web Pages
  (Netscape 2.0+ and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0+ which are
  running on Windows 95) . Researchers at Princeton University
  have found this virus on a number of World Wide Web pages and
  fear its spread. Please pass this on, for we must alert the
  general public at the security risks.

The only way to fight these hoaxes is to pass the word on them and to try to stop other users from sending them further. However, as we can see from the Good Times hoax, this can be very difficult.