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This is in responce to an e-mail that follows..
Rebecca,
I have not seen this particular warning nor is it in the lists of hoaxes
I checked, but it is possible for a virus to be transmitted via an
e-mail. I doubt it can do everything this warning said it will do, but
deleting information on the hard drive is one of the things possible for
a virus to do. Remember, there is no substitute for a good BACKUP and
RESTORE procedure. If your hard drive fails, virus protection will not
help you.
I suggest going to:
http://www.cnet.com
In the topic finder pulldown choose viruses. This will take you to a
page where they have reviews of the latest virus protection software and
more importantly, a link to a very good article that explains in plain
English what a virus is, how you can get one, and how you can't! To
read it, click the "Virus alert" link near the bottom.
Another fun site to visit which talks about virus hoaxes is:
http://kumite.com/myths/
Sincerely,
Tim Moczygemba, MCP
281 Communications
PS I have contracted viruses 3 times in my computing career. In every
case I was able to get the latest scan software from McAfee and clean my
hard drive without any loss of data. Bottom line, viruses are rare and
usually not harmful. They should be respected but not feared.
Original Message starts here :
WARNING!!!!!!!
> If you receive an e-mail titiled..JOIN THE CREW... /for PENPALS
> DO NOT open it!!!!!
> It will erase EVERYTHING on your hard drive!
> Send this letter out to as many people as you can....this is a new
> virus and not many people know about it!! This information was
> received this morning by IBM, Please share it with anyone that might
> access the internet!!!
> PENPAL appears to be a friendly letter asking you if you are
> interested in a penpal.....but by the time you read this letter it
> is TOO late.
> The Trojan horse virus will have already infected the boot sector of
> your harddrive, destroying all the data present.
> It is a self-replicating virus, and once the message is read it will
> AUTOMATICALLY forward itself to anyone who's e-mail address is
> present in your box!!!
> This virus will destroy your hard drive and holds the potential to
> DESTROY the hard drive of anyone whose mail is in your box and whose
> mail is in their box and so on and on!!!!!!
> So delete any message titled PENPAL or JOIN THE CREW.......this
> virus can do major DAMAGE to worldwide networks!!!!
> PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND PEOPLE IN YOUR
> MAILBOXES.........
> AOL..... HAS SAID THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS VIRUS AND THERE IS
> NO REMEDY FOR
> THIS........ FORWARD IT TO ALL YOUR ON-LINE
> FRIENDS...............A.S.A.P.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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