Friends, I received this today from a colleague. Please note that you cannot
get a computer virus from READING email. It is downloading and UNZIPPING and
EXPANDING attached files/programs that can nuke your hard drive. Any
questions, please ask me or your systems adminstrator.
Thanks.
******************************
Subject: AOLGold virus for Windows users!
Please do not panic, AOLGold is a virus for Windows users. This notification is
being sent to all of you to make sure that you are informed and know how to
proceed if you should receive a message with a file attached to it called
AOLGOLD.ZIP .
As far as we can tell this has the potential to affect ONLY Windows users.
IF ANYONE receives a message with this file attached (AOLGOLD.ZIP), DO NOT
attempt to open the attached file!!! (Reading the message itself, poses NO
risk.)
As you know, we strive to keep you informed on various issues regarding
online safety.
We want to take this opportunity to remind you about potential computer
viruses and Trojan horses and how to protect your computer. First, a virus
is a program that is designed to spread and usually attaches itself to a
program with the goal of spreading to other computers. A Trojan horse is a
program that is intended to corrupt your computer but has to be activated
before it can be executed. For example, a Trojan horse can be distributed as
an attached file to an email but the file has to be downloaded and executed
before harm is done.
If you receive email from unknown senders with an attached file, it is a good
rule of thumb not to download the files. In addition, if you ever receive a
file in email you believe could cause problems, please forward it immediately
to [log in to unmask], and explain your concerns to our Terms of Service staff.
We have received recent inquiries regarding a Trojan horse that is sent as an
attached file in an email message entitled "AOLGOLD" and "Install.exe". It is
important to understand that no virus or Trojan horse can be passed along by
simply reading email. However, we strongly urge that if you receive email
with an attached file with this name not to download it.
Due to the private nature of electronic mail, we cannot scan files in email
for viruses as we do with files in public areas of the service.
We have never had an occurrence of a virus or Trojan horse being spread
through simply reading email. In order for one 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.
AOL incorporates virus protection throughout the service and scans all posted
software, text, and sound files in public areas. We also offer our members
the Virus Information Center on AOL where you'll find information about the
latest virus or Trojan horse, along with updates to all the popular
commercial, shareware, and freeware anti-virus tools. Keyword: VIRUS.
Thank you for taking an active role in maintaining a safe online environment.
Sincerely,
AOL Operations Staff
The AOLGOLD virus is a Trojan Horse virus that is intended to erase most of
your system files. America Online's Terms of Service Department tested and
verified it's capabilities, after a member who had received it reported it to
us.
AOLGOLD.ZIP contains an install file, INSTALL.EXE, which when run, expands
into the following:
ADRIVE.RPT
ANNOY.COM
DOER.DO
DOOMDAY.EXE
INSTALL.BAT
INSTALL.EXE
SLOWER.ZZ
SUSPEND.DRV
VIDEO.DRV
When INSTALL.BAT is initialized (by rebooting your computer) it renames
VIDEO.DRV to VIRUS.BAT. The next time the computer is rebooted, VIRUS.BAT
begins it's job of deleting all files on the computer's C:\ drive, in
alphabetical and numerical order.
We recommend that ANY EMAIL YOU RECEIVE WITH THE AOLGOLD.ZIP FILE ATTACHED BE
FORWARDED TO THE TERMS OF SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT SCREEN NAME "TOSEMAIL1", THEN
IMMEDIATELY DELETED FROM YOUR "MAIL YOU'VE SENT" AND "MAIL YOU'VE READ"
MAILBOXES by selecting the "delete" button on your email list window.
PLEASE DO NOT DOWNLOAD OR EXECUTE THIS FILE.
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Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC, LLL Leader
Co-Owner Lactnet, LLLOL, Corgi-L E-mail lists
LACTNET WWW site: http://www.mcs.com/~auerbach/lactation.html
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