Re: Got this - not sure of authenticity. Better safe etc...
Sean Allen (allensd@VNET.IBM.COM)
Tue, 6 Dec 1994 14:42:33 -0500 (EST)
The 'Christmas Card' ordeal required a user to actually do
something besides read the message. Think of a scenario where a
UNIX user has a .forward file to another user, who in turn has it
point right back. That is essentially what happened, except that
the user had to "receive" a file and execute it. For those of us
who do not get our mail on the mainframes, the "virus" had no
impact.
On Tue, 6 Dec 1994, Bennett Todd wrote:
> >Yup. Those email viruses are almost as dangerous as artificially
> >intelligent network packets.
>
> Well, I know nothing about this report, but I've heard of a "virus" (more
> like a worm, actually) carried via email: as I recall, IBM's internal
> network (VNET?) was shut down by a christmas card that retransmitted itself
> to everyone in the receipient's phonebook.
>
> AOL has all kinds of cleverness for automagically downloading new versions
> of its own client software, so this virus report didn't strike me as
> intrinsically unbelievable.
>
> -Bennett
>
Sean Allen AIX/Database Administration
(919)543-6021 Fax 7996 IBM Personal Computer Company
Internal Zip: D318/B205 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
#include<std_disclaimer.h> Internet: allensd@vnet.ibm.com