An email chain letter that has been making its rounds is found to be a hoax.
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/olympic-torch-virus-hoax.html
This email "warning" message claims the following;
Subject: Fwd: FW: Please read immediately - virus warning!
READ IMMEDIATELY PLS
Get this sent around to your contacts ASAP...we don't need this spreading around.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
You should be alert during the next days:
Do not open any message with an attached file called ' Invitation' regardless of who sent it, It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch
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, that is why you should send this e-mail to
all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
If you receive a mail called 'invitation' , though sent by a friend, do not open it and 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
SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW ,
COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND! IT TO YOUR FRIENDS
According to Hoax-Slayer.com;
This "warning" message claims that an email with an attached file named "Invitation" contains a virus that will destroy the hard drive of the infected computer. According to the message, the attachment opens an "Olympic Torch, which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer". However, the claims in the message are untrue. The message is simply a rehashed version of the long running Virtual Card for You virus hoax (see example) and should not be taken seriously. Both hoaxes claim that the information has been announced by CNN, which is untrue. There is nothing on the CNN website about a virus like the one described in the message.
Well, I guess that makes me feel at ease. Now I just have to be sure they discover these other viruses that are hidden inside the Virus Hoax email!
Computer VirusesThe following information is from credible intelligence sources on the latest viruses sweeping across our nation's information superhighway, so take extreme caution and be on high virus alert at all times!
THE GEORGE W BUSH VIRUS - Causes your computer to keep looking for viruses of mass destruction and intermittently masks the pixel colors on your screen, so that you never get the whole picture. Variant of the Neal Bush "S&L" virus, and the Jeb Bush "does what it can" virus.
THE JOHN KERRY VIRUS - Reverses every position each time you turn your computer on
THE AL GORE VIRUS - Causes your computer to keep counting, recounting, recounting ... ad nauseam
THE BILL CLINTON VIRUS - Gives you a permanent hard drive, with no memory
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON VIRUS #1 - Files dissappear, only to reappear mysteriously a year later, in another directory
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON VIRUS #2 - Instantly turns 1K of disk space into 1 Meg
THE BOB DOLE VIRUS - Makes a new hard drive out of an old floppy similar to the Viagara Virus
THE LEWINSKY VIRUS - Sucks all the memory out of your computer, then emails your best friends about what it did).
THE RONALD REAGAN VIRUS - Saves your data, but forgets where it is stored
THE DR. HANNIBAL LECTER VIRUS - It eats the heart out of your PC with some fava beans and a nice Chianti
THE ELLEN DEGENERES VIRUS - Disks can no longer be inserted
THE ELVIS VIRUS - Your computer gets fat, slow and lazy, then self-destructs -- only to resurface at shopping malls and service stations across rural America
THE JESSE JACKSON VIRUS - Warns you constantly about illegitimate file reproduction, while illegitimately reproducing files in the background and rhyming it all
THE MIKE TYSON VIRUS - Quits after two bytes
THE JIMMY HOFFA VIRUS - Your programs can never be found again
THE OPRAH WINFREY VIRUS - Your 300 mb hard drive shrinks to 100 mb, then slowly expands to restabilize around 200
THE E.T. VIRUS - Locks up your modem by phoning home
THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRAT VIRUS - Divides your hard disk into hundreds of little units, each of which does practically nothing, but all of which claim to be the most important part of your computer
THE FREUDIAN VIRUS #1 - Your computer becomes obsessed with marrying its own motherboard.
THE FREUDIAN VIRUS #2 - Your computer becomes envious of your friend's hard drive
THE JACK KEVORKIAN VIRUS - Deletes all old files
THE PROZAC VIRUS - Totally screws up your RAM, but your processor doesn't care
THE JOEY BUTTAFUOCO VIRUS - Only attacks minor files
THE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER VIRUS - Terminates some files, leaves, but will be back
THE MICHAEL JACKSON VIRUS - Also attacks only minor files
THE LORENA BOBBITT VIRUS - Reformats your hard drive into a 3.5 inch floppy, then discards it through Windows
THE VIAGRA VIRUS - Makes a new hard drive out of an old floppy see THE BOB DOLE VIRUS
THE VAMPIRE VIRUS - Your PC can operate only at night, and its performance really sucks
THE STAR TREK VIRUS - Invades your system in places where no VIRUS has gone before
THE BIN LADEN VIRUS - Continues to hide in its own set of network connections