Subject: Re: virus

From: "Maurice A. O'Sullivan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 18:56:23 +0100

At 12:25 17/06/96 -0400, you wrote:
>For your Info:
>
>>************************************************************
>>            WARNING!!!!!!!  INTERNET VIRUS
>>************************************************************
>>
>>The FCC released a warning last Wednesday concerning a matter of major
>>importance to any regular user of the Internet. Apparently a new computer
>>virus has been engineered by a user of AMERICA ON LINE that is
>>unparalleled in its destructive capability. Other more well-known viruses
>>such as "Stoned", "Airwolf" and Michaelangelo" pale in comparison to the
>>prospects of this newest creation by a warped mentality. What makes this
>>virus so terrifying, said the FCC, is the fact that no program needs to be
>>exchanged for a new computer to be infected. It can be spread through the
>>existing email systems of the Internet. Once a Computer is infected, one
>>of several things can happen. If the computer contains a hard drive, that
>>will most likely be destroyed.
>>
>> If the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in
>>an nth-complexity infinite binary loop -which can severely damage the
>>processor if left running that way too long. Unfortunately, most novice
>>computer users will not realize what is happening until it is far too
>>late.  Luckily, there is one sure means of detecting what is now known as
>>the "Good Times" virus. It always travels to new computers the same way in
>>a text email message with the subject line reading "Good Times". Avoiding
>>infection is easy once the file has been received simply by NOT READING
>>IT!
>>
>>The act of loading the file into the mail server's ASCII buffer causes the
>>"Good Times" mainline program to initialize and execute.
>>
>>The program is highly intelligent- it will send copies of itself to
>>everyone whose email address is contained in a receive-mail file or a
>>sent-mail file, if it can find one. It will then proceed to trash the
>>computer it is running on. The bottom line there is - if you receive a
>>file with the subject line "Good Times", delete it immediately! Do not
>>read it"  Rest assured that whoever's name was on the "From" line was
>>surely struck by the virus.  Warn your friends and local system users of
>>this newest threat to the Internet!
>>
>
>

The irresponsibility of the author of this message in spreading to the
entire list a two year old joke is only exceeded by his technical illiteracy
in swallowing whole such "magic" words as "an nth-complexity infinite binary
loop"

Regards,