Fwd: Worst virus ever - CNN announced

[Guest guest]

bottom line--- don't open any " " A Virtual Card for You. " email at

--least for a while

 

 

 

 

CCCC-USA , ranger116 wrote:

 

Worst virus ever - CNN announced

 

Had thisa passed on to me and thought it might be important!!!!!

FW: WORST VIRUS EVER --- CNN ANNOUNCED

 

WORST VIRUS EVER --- CNN ANNOUNCED

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:

" A Card for You " .

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 Virtual Card for You. " 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

[Guest guest]

'A Virtual Card for You' Virus Warning

 

Netlore Archive: Hoax email alert warns of 'the worst virus ever'

circulating under the header 'A Card for You' (or 'A Virtual Card

for You')

 

Description: Email hoax

Circulating since: Dec. 2000

Status: False

Analysis: See below

 

 

 

Email example contributed by an AOL user, 1 March 2002:

Virus Warning

 

CNN announced. 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 and no vaccine has yet been developed.

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 " A Card

for You. " As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened, the

computer freezes so that the user has to reboot. When the 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 Virtual Card for You. " 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 25 times than not at all.

 

Also: Intel announced that a new and very destructive virus was

discovered recently. If you receive an email called " An Internet

Flower For You " , do not open it. Delete it right away! This virus

removes all dynamic link libraries (.DLL files) from your computer.

Your computer will not be able to boot up!!

 

This is posted as a warning. Lets hope that none of us gets touched

by any of this.

 

 

 

 

Comments: With so many real viruses wreaking havoc on computers and

networks worldwide, it's a shame we have to cope with false warnings

like the above. There is no such threat as the " Sector Zero " or " A

Card for You " (aka " A Virtual Card for You " ) virus. If you receive a

copy of this alert, just delete it.

 

As a general rule, acting on forwarded email warnings is the worst

way to try to protect yourself from viruses — and not just because

the majority of emailed virus warnings are hoaxes. In a sense, all

such warnings — even the accurate ones — are misleading, because

they leave the false impression that as long as you're on the alert

for file attachments with specific names, you will be safe. The

reality is that you put yourself at risk by downloading any

executable file by any name — and some viruses are even designed to

rename themselves or email copies of themselves under randomly

varying names.

 

Much, much, much more important than heeding emailed virus warnings

are the simple preventative measures of:

 

Always being very careful what you download

Scanning your hard drive regularly with up-to-date antivirus

software.

See also: " Olympic Torch " Virus Warning, a new version of this hoax.

 

 

 

 

Email This Article

 

Sources and further reading:

 

Hoax Encyclopedia: A Virtual Card for You

" Hoaxes are a waste of both time and money. Please don't forward

them on to others. "

Virtual Card for You - Symantec Security Response

" Numerous variants in several languages of this hoax have been

circulated. The Virtual Card for You is a hoax that should be

ignored. "

 

Computer Virus Hoaxes

Index and resources from About.com

 

Last updated: 03/31/04

 

 

Current Netlore

The Urban Legends Top 25

 

 

 

 

From David Emery,

Your Guide to Urban Legends and Folklore.

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--- In

, " robertaldermandunbar "

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