Fun_People Archive
18 May
Viri - transformation from program to email

Date: Thu, 18 May 95 12:51:59 PDT
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Viri - transformation from program to email

Forwarded-by: bostic@CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
Subject: The Sting: yet another ``GOOD TIMES'' email virus
Forwarded-by: Wendell Craig Baker <wbaker@splat.baker.com>

[The Bait:]

    From: Marc Horowitz <marc@MIT.EDU>
    Subject: Bill Yerazunis: Microsoft  "We just want to see what you're
    running..."

    So, what's the legality of this?  InfoWeek is reputable, as far as
    computer industry rags go.

		Marc

    <Forwards removed for fear Microsoft might charge them>
     From Information Week May 22, 1995, p.88:

    "Microsoft officials confirm that beta versions of Windows 95 include
    a small viral routine called Registration Wizard. It interrogates
    every system on a network gathering intelligence on what software is
    being run on which machine. It then creates a complete listing of both
    Microsoft's and competitors' products by machine, which it reports to
    Microsoft when customers sign up for Microsoft's Network Services,
    due for launch later this year. Customers must actively disable the
    routine if they don't want it to run."

[Yeah, that sounds reasonable.  Those dirty Redmond bastards, they'll stop
 at nothing to get at our precious bodily fluids. ... why, I have half a
 mind to send 'em some (modulo some postal regs).

The Switch:]

    From: Karyn Pichnarczyk <karyn@cisco.com>
    Subject: Re: Microsoft  "We just want to see what you're running..."

    Crash:

    You should know better.  I checked the current Information Week for
    this a few days ago, and page 88 is in the middle of an approximately
    10 page advertisement of Microsoft products.  I could find this
    paragraph NOWHERE on page 88.  Now, I'm not certain of the date of
    the Info. week I saw, but if you learned one thing from Good Times
    [the "virus" which seems to be embodied in the email which was
    forwarded all over the net --marc]:

    CHECK YOUR REFERENCES BEFORE FORWARDING JUNK.

    karyn

[oops.]
[oops!  -bostic (attributed by psl)]
[oops!  -psl]

© 1995 Peter Langston