Hopefully you’re reading this before you send on that email that says a “big virus is coming” and “COPY THIS, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.”
Please don’t forward it on.
Thought not necessarily a “hoax” in the true sense of the word, this is another case of over-zealous-email-forwarding.
This already made its rounds in July and August 2007 – yes folks, over a year and a half ago.
Here’s a breakdown of the claims made in the email, and the truth. But don’t take my word for it, go research it for yourself (I’ve provided links
CNN classified it as the “worst virus ever”
CNN never said that, in fact McAfee’s risk assessment to both Home and Corporate users was “low”. (Source: Snopes)
Microsoft called it the “most destructive ever”
Microsoft never said that, either. (Source: Snopes)
The Virus “burns the whole hard disc”
It doesn’t, that’s just a scare tactic. (Source: McAfee)
If you’re following best practices you’ve got all your data backed up, so even if it did “burn the hard disk” or “destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc” or “flux the capacitor” your data should still be safe… if you’re not backing stuff up already, consider this your hint to do so! (Source: common sense)
The method of infection (according to McAfee, the antivirus company) is as follows:
- You receive an email with a link to the malicious web page
- You click on the link in the email
- The web page has “a cocktail of browser and application exploits”
- Once you visit the site, a silent drive-by install of malware is attempted
The person who sent it to you is infected
Probably not, since the from address is spoofed when sending infectious email messages and therefore, it cannot be assumed that the from user address is any indication of which user may actually be infected. (Source: McAfee)
The Virus was “discovered by McAfee yesterday”
Sweet! You’ve discovered a time machine! It was discovered on July 4th 2007. (Source: McAfee)
The Virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list
It doesn’t come as a file attachment, you have to click on the link in the email, which sends you to a malicious website. (Source: McAfee)
Even if it was an attachment, you don’t open links or attachments from people that you don’t know, right? (Source: common sense)
It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it
No, it’s not. (Source: common sense)
If your operating system has been patched (which you do regularly, right?) you’re safe. (Source: McAfee)
If your antivirus software is up-to-date (which it is, right?) you’re safe. (Source: common sense)
If you follow safe-computing practices by not opening links or attachments from people that you don’t know you’re safe. (Source: common sense)
If you forward on “warning emails” like this one it will just perpetuate the problem since the spammers will then have access to the email addresses of everyone in the “email chain” which sets them up for sending the next round of viruses, spam, and malware. (Source: common sense)
I checked Snopes and it is for real
Kind of… Snopes does indeed comment on the “Postcard virus” (specifically the W32/Zhelatin.gen!eml virus). Here’s what Snopes says:
Although the Postcard virus is real, it isn’t a "BIG VIRUS COMING" (it’s already been around in multiple forms for a long time now), it will not "burn the whole hard disc" of your computer, CNN didn’t classify it as the "worst virus" ever, and it doesn’t arrive in messages bearing a subject line of ‘Invitation.’ [emphasis added]
Summary
EasyKey.net sums up stuff you read on the internet rather eloqnetly:
Reality and fiction can be extremely blurred by the internet. We recommend that you never circulate warnings about scams or virus threats. Instead pick out an unusual phrase and enter it into Google and you will probably find it is a Hoax, Bogus Warning or Urban Myth. You can also use the Hoax list on Symantec or Trend Micro. [emphasis added]
So, to get infected with this malware (it’s not really a virus) you had to do the following things:
- You gave your address out to someone and it eventually made it to whomever sent the email. (Most emails are harvested by spammers from emails just like the one that you just got. Ironic that “warning” about this email is the same method that spammers harvest email to send their next round of virus-laden spam, isn’t it?)
- You followed a link in an email from a person that you didn’t recognize, that’s bad news, you’re asking for trouble.
- The only way this malware can infect you is if you don’t have an patched web browser and operating system. Have you run Windows updates recently? No? Again, you’re asking for trouble.
- Even if you don’t have an up-to-date browser/operating system, you should at least have a current subscription to a major anti-virus program (McAfee, Symantec, OneCare, etc.). Comcast gives subscribers McAfee for free, by the way. If you did have an up-to-date antivirus program, it would have blocked this attack.
Got it? Patch, update, antivirus software, don’t click links or open attachments from people you don’t know, and don’t EVER blindly forward email messages just because the email tells you to – do your homework and find out if it’s only making things worse… like forwarding this email is. (Source: me)
Original Text, Variant One
I checked with Norton Anti-Virus and they are gearing up for this virus. I checked Snopes (URL above:) and it is for real.
Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!
You should 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 the reason why you need to let all your contacts know about this. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
If you receive a mail called’ POSTCARD,’ even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately.
This is the worst virus announced by CNN. 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.
COPY THIS, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.
Original Text, Variant Two
HUGE VIRUS COMING!!! PLEASE READ & FORWARD]
Hi Friends an
d
Family,I know this forward to be real. WE were notified by our ITS people at NDSU of the same thing. Thought I’d better get this forwarded to all of you. Don’t know if it will affect MACS but bette be safe than sorry.
In case you haven’t already heard. . . My cousin said that this was reported on Fox News yesterday and they even gave a statistics as to how many computers were effected in one hour. checked with Norton Anti-Virus and they are gearing up for this virus. I checked Snopes (URL above:) and it is for real.
Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!
You should 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 the reason why you need to let all your contacts know about this. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
If you receive a mail called’ POSTCARD,’ even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately.
This is the worst virus announced by CNN. 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.
COPY THIS, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.
