This Good Times thing goes around about every six months for the last
several years. I copy and quote the following from America On Line
administrative support areas. In every instance, the caveat is always
presented to avoid any files with this name if you are at all suspicious.
It is always good to share concerns of this type with our peers and
eliminate potential problems. One of these "stories" being real is all it
would take to potentially do millions of dollars in destructive damage.
Dear Members:
We've recently heard from many of you that the "Good Times" virus rumor is
once again making its way around America Online and the Internet.
On December 6, 1994, the US Department of Energy's CIAC issued a bulletin
declaring the Good Times virus a hoax. On April 24, they issued another
bulletin reiterating this statement. We have not received reports from ANY
members that they have contracted the "Good Times" virus -- but we
understand that you have concerns, and wanted to address them here.
If you receive a piece of mail spreading rumors of this hoax, please
forward it to screen name TOSEMAIL1. If you would like to have further
information about the Good Times Virus Hoax, use keyword VIRUS on America
Online -- the Good Times Virus "FAQ" (frequently asked questions) is in
the software libraries.
Finally, for your information, we are reprinting below our original notice
to you last December.
Regards,
The America Online Terms of Service Staff
-----------------
Dear Member:
We have received several inquiries over the last couple of days regarding a
rumored "virus" in an email message entitled "Good Times." We thought it
would be best to briefly explain how the mail system works, and what we
know about the rumored piece of email.
As background, AOL incorporates virus protection throughout the service and
scans all posted software, text, and sound files in public areas.
We have never had an occurence of a virus being spread through simply
reading email. It is possible, however, for an attached file to an email
to carry a virus that could cause a problem. We cannot scan files in email
for viruses as we do with files in public areas of the service since email
represents private electronic communication. In order for the virus to
spread to your computer, you would have to proactively select the attached
file and download it to your hard drive. It is therefore advisable never
to download attached files from an unknown sender.
While there has been quite a bit of rumor regarding this "Good Times" piece
of mail, AOL has not been able to confirm a single incident of a subscriber
receiving this mail, or any subscriber getting a virus through e-mail.
Given the nature of the rumor, if you do receive mail entitled "Good
Times," we would advise that you avoid downloading any file that is
attached with this title.
If you ever receive a file in email that you believe could cause problems,
please forward it immediately to TOSEMAIL [please note the new address is
TOSEMAIL1], and explain your concerns. Meanwhile we will keep you posted
should we receive any additional information.
Warm Regards,
America Online
Transmitted: 3/27/96 11:53 PM (VICgtltr)
------------------------------------
The Good Times email virus is a hoax!
If anyone repeats the hoax, please show them the FAQ.
G o o d T i m e s V i r u s H o a x
--------
M i n i F A Q
by Les Jones
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
February 6, 1996
This information can be freely reproduced in any medium,
as long as the information is unmodified.
A FAQ, if you're new to the Internet, is a document that answers
Frequently Asked Questions. This Mini FAQ is a summary of, and a
reference to, the full FAQ, which has much more information about this
and other hoaxes. Instructions for retrieving the full FAQ are at the
end of this message. The Mini FAQ is short enough for faxes, message
boards, company memos, and people with short attention spans.
Is the Good Times email virus a hoax?
-------------------------------------
Yes. It's a hoax.
America Online, government computer security agencies, and makers of
anti-virus software have declared Good Times a hoax. See Online
References at the end of the FAQ.
The hoax has been around since at least November of 1994. Since that
time, no copy of the alleged virus has ever been found, nor has there
been a single verified case of a viral attack.
I'm new to the Internet. What is the Good Times virus hoax?
-----------------------------------------------------------
The story is that a virus called Good Times is being carried by email.
Just reading a message with "Good Times" in the subject line will
erase your hard drive, or even destroy your computer's processor.
Needless to say, it's a hoax, but a lot of people believed it.
Some of the companies that have reportedly fallen for the hoax include
AT&T, CitiBank, NBC, Hughes Aircraft, Microsoft, Texas Instruments,
and dozens or hundreds of others. There have been outbreaks at
numerous colleges.
The U.S. government has not been immune. Some of the government
agencies that have reportedly fallen victim to the hoax include the
Department of Defense, the FCC, and NASA.
The full Good Times Virus Hoax FAQ has more information about the
origins of the hoax, and variations on the text of the hoax.
What was the CIAC bulletin?
---------------------------
On December 6, 1994, the U.S. Department of Energy's CIAC (Computer
Incident Advisory Capability) issued a bulletin declaring the Good
Times virus a hoax and an urban legend. The bulletin was widely quoted
as an antidote to the hoax. The original document can be found at the
address in Online References at the end of the mini FAQ, and is
included verbatim in the full FAQ. CIAC issued another bulletin on
April 24, 1995 to reiterate that Good Times is a hoax.
Online References
-----------------
**CIAC Notes 94-05, 95-09, and especially 94-04**
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/notes/Notes04c.shtml
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/notes/Notes05d.shtml
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/notes/Notes09.shtml
Data Fellows' description of Good Times
http://www.datafellows.fi/v-descs/goodtime.htm
Australian Cert Note
ftp://ftp.auscert.org.au/pub/auscert/advisory/AL-95.02.virus.hoax.returns
Where can I find this FAQ and the complete FAQ?
-----------------------------------------------
**The Good Times Virus Hoax FAQ and Mini FAQ**
The mini FAQ is a greatly simplified version of this FAQ. At two
pages, it's short enough for message boards, faxes, mailing lists, and
people with short attention spans.
http://www.usit.net/public/lesjones/goodtimes.html
http://www.usit.net/public/lesjones/gtminifaq.html
http://users.aol.com/macfaq/goodtimes.html
http://users.aol.com/macfaq/gtminifaq.html
Via FTP:
ftp://usit.net/pub/lesjones/good-times-virus-hoax-faq.txt
ftp://usit.net/pub/lesjones/good-times-virus-hoax-mini-faq.txt
ftp://users.aol.com/macfaq/good-times-virus-hoax-faq.txt
ftp://users.aol.com/macfaq/good-times-virus-hoax-mini-faq.txt
On America Online:
In the file libraries at keyword VIRUS.
Transmitted: 3/27/96 11:53 PM (VICgtmf)
----------
>This was forwarded to me from a from a pretty good source. Better safe than
>sorry.
>
>
>
>Immediately delete (do not open or read) any email you might receive with
>the subject heading "Good Times."
>
>There is a computer virus that is being sent across the Internet. If you
>receive an email message with the subject line "Good Times", DO NOT read
>the message, DELETE it immediately. Please read the messages below. Some
>miscreant is sending email under the title "Good Times" nationwide, if you
>get anything like this, DON'T DOWN LOAD 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.
>
> 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! It could save
>them a lot of time and money.
>
>Could you pass this along to your global mailing list as well?
>
>
>George H. Bowers
>Vice President for Information Systems University of Maryland Medical System
>410-328-2579 (fax)410-328-0572
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>===================================================================
>
>Dr. Marc H. Siegel
>Project Coordinator, E-LYNX (US EPA ETI Program)
>Engineering Process & Information Consulting
>12397 Picrus Street
>San Diego, CA 92129-4113
>Phone: 619-484-9855
>Fax: 619-484-9856
>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>===================================================================
Jack Crawford
HelpLine Manager
EMPF
317.226.5616
Visit our homepage at:
http://www.empf.org
|
