Virus!!

[Ed62]

I just received this in an e-mail, and I went to Snopes myself to check it out. Apparently it's true.


VIRUS COMING! PLEASE READ & FORWARD!

I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus!


I checked Snopes (URL below), and it is real!!


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


Send this message to your contacts ASAP.

Be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,' regardless of who sent it to you.

It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, 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. This is why you need to 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 mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately.

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.


Ed

[RayintheUK]

It's a pity that you can't copy and paste from Snopes' pages, so you need to scroll down towards the bottom of the link given to read the truth. This is another case of a once-true item becoming another hoax.

Ray.

[dbhost]

Good Lord I hope somebody sends me that thing. Just like all the other Windoze viruses, it will NEVER impact my system...

Proudly running CentOS 5.2 thank you very much...

[Ed62]

Page copy from Snopes. Click to enlarge. Apparently it was still true in April 2008. Is it no longer a threat?


Ed
Edit: Although it's not as bad as it seemed to be, would it be a bad idea to ignore cards being sent to you? Sorry if I sent something that wasn't what I thought it was.

[Salty]

Well, now I guess I have to tell my story.
This past sweetest day, LOML sent me a card via email. She was in sunny FL and I was not...don't ask!
Well anyway. I have been without any major problems on any of my computers for years, aside from the usual malware that I get rid of by running something like spybot. There was never anything harmful or annoying.
But then, after I opened that card....trouble indeed. I began getting constant WIN32 virus variations. Avast could not contain them and they just keep returning in multiple variations.
Then constant popups in IE began and several times it would shut down the browser. Once the entire system restarted by itself.
I discovered that so many operating system files had been compromised that I had to abandon that hard drive and use another as I was concerned for the integrity of the data on the drive and concerned for the security of my personal information.
All apparently because I opened a card from my sweety.
If I could get ahold of the people who do this I would slap them until my hand was sore....then switch hands!

[herb fellows]

While it is true this is a virus that's out there, it is old and most systems are protected against it.

FYI, when someone sends you a message like this, never click on the Snopes link in the message, that will say what they want you to believe. Always go out of the email and go to Snopes independently to get the real, full story.

[JoeyGee]

I didn't read all the details in the Snopes piece, but this virus did in fact hit the company I work for a few weeks ago. Somehow it did get through and caused a whole bunch of problems. It was a bot/relay agetn/remote control thing, and not a trash your hdd thing from what I understand.

It may or not be the exact thing, but the subject definitely was a card from Hallmark. I know it was an old method/subject, but this was definitely new.

[cgallery]

Avast could not contain them and they just keep returning in multiple variations.

I recently experimented by removing AVG and trying avast for a couple of days. It didn't take long before a web exploit got through, infected my machine, and added a root kit.

Due to the nature of root kits I was compelled to wipe/reload the machine.

[Hellrazor]

The worst viruses I ever received were labeled Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows XP and Windows Vista...

[Salty]

The worst viruses I ever received were labeled Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows XP and Windows Vista...

Lookout Mike...here comes wondows 7 !!

BTW, what happened to versions 1-6?

[Hellrazor]

Lookout Mike...here comes wondows 7 !!

BTW, what happened to versions 1-6?

Microsoft can't count?

Lets see..

Windows 3.1
Windows 95
Windows ME <- Ugh, that was the WORST version ever
Windows 98
Windows NT
Windows XP
Windows Vista <- Bloatware

[LinuxRandal]

Good Lord I hope somebody sends me that thing. Just like all the other Windoze viruses, it will NEVER impact my system...

Proudly running CentOS 5.2 thank you very much...

Maybe you could take it, look at the code and either recompile it, or write it for your system, then give it administrator priveliges and allow it to compile and run on your system, for the same effect.

Or, if you like, go look up the Amish computer virus!

Lookout Mike...here comes wondows 7 !!

BTW, what happened to versions 1-6?

I still have version 1.0 NIB around here somewhere, do you have any 5 1/4" drives anymore? LOL

[Rand]

Anything that says "Send this to everybody you know" or some variation of that is 99 and 44/100% hoax.

[gsmittle]

Good Lord I hope somebody sends me that thing. Just like all the other Windoze viruses, it will NEVER impact my system...

Proudly running CentOS 5.2 thank you very much...

Mine either... OS X 10.5.5

g.

[dbhost]

The nice thing about Linux is that
no anti virus is needed.

Thank you Linus Torvalds!

You are going to catch a virus accept or deny?
blah blah. Yep, not ever going to swap Windoze into my machines for darn good reason...