Virus Hoax

[Sarah Ralston <ralston@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU>]

	I asked our departmental computer expert about the virus warning posted a
day or so ago. The following is his reply:
>
>This sounds like a variation on the old "GOODTIMES" virus hoax.  In
>general, the threat is of a grand magnitude and there is a reference to a
>respected computer company (IBM) but there is no direct reference to where
>it is announced.  This is compounded by the fact that IBM is really not a
>big player in Anti-virus software.
>
>I just found this at www.sarc.com  (Symmantec Anti-virus research).  Please
>pass this hoax notifcation on to whomever posted the initial call to arms
>and advise them to check out SARC before panicking.  :)
>
>PASTED TEXT FOLLOWS
>
>Description:
>
>"Guts to Say Jesus" Hoax is not a virus and is a hoax. It is a sham, meant
>only to panic new or inexperienced computer users. The hoax message
>includes the following warning with the title of "".
>
>VIRUS WARNING !!!!!!! If you receive an email titled "It Takes Guts to Say
>'Jesus'" DO NOT open it. It will erase everything on your hard drive.
>Forward this letter out to as many people as you can. This is a new, very
>malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was
>announced yesterday morning from IBM; please share it with everyone that
>might access the internet. Once again, pass this along to EVERYONE in your
>address book so that this may be stopped. Also, do not open or even look at
>any mail that says "RETURNED OR UNABLE TO DELIVER." This virus will attach
>itself to your computer components and render them useless. Immediately
>delete any mail items that say this. AOL has said that this is a very
>dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time. Please
>practice cautionary measures and forward this to all your online friends
ASAP.
>
>Please ignore any messages regarding this supposed "virus" and do not pass
>on any messages regarding it. Passing on messages about this hoax on serves
>only to further propagate it.
>
>Write-up by: Motoaki Yamamura January 14, 1999

Always dream and shoot higher        |      Bill Crosbie
> than you know you can do.            |      Coordinator-Multimedia Services
> Don't bother just to be better than  |      Dept. of Animal Science
> your contemporaries or predecessors. |      Cook College/Rutgers Univ.
> Try to be better than yourself.      |      New Brunswick, NJ USA
>                                      |      crosbie@aesop.rutgers.edu
>      ~~William Faulkner~~            |      732-932-8495
>
>
Sarah L. Ralston, VMD, PhD, dACVN
Associate Professor
Department of Animal Science
Cook College, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Ralston@aesop.rutgers.edu
732-932-9404


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