[447] in libertarians
Re: E-mail Virus??
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Travis Corcoran)
Mon Dec 5 19:14:56 1994
Date: Mon, 5 Dec 94 18:49:30 EST
From: tjic@ICD.teradyne.com (Travis Corcoran)
To: vimrich@MIT.EDU
Cc: libertarians-announce@MIT.EDU, libertarains@MIT.EDU, safe@MIT.EDU,
objectivism@MIT.EDU, politics@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <9412052325.AA01923@invincible.MIT.EDU> (message from Vernon Imrich on Mon, 05 Dec 1994 18:25:28 EST)
> Date: Mon, 05 Dec 1994 18:25:28 EST
> From: Vernon Imrich <vimrich@MIT.EDU>
>
>
> Forward this to everyone on the planet that you know has e-mail
> capabilities.
I'm not convinced that this is the best method for distributing useful
data; like the eveil memes of
(1) fake-Mrs-Fields-cookie-recipe,
(2) the make-money-fast chain letter, and the
(3) gangs-flash-their-headlights-at-you-and-kill-you-if-you-flash-back
urban myth, this mail has the potential to get out of control and get
bounced all over the Net millions of times, annoying many people in
the process.
> There is someone going around and e-mailing something going under
> the name of "good times" If you should receive anything named such
> in your mail DON'T DOWNLOAD IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Delete it ASAP.
This sounds like an attempt at stopping the propogation of ( probably
non-virus) information.
> There is a bad virus included in that message. If you were to
> download it into your computer, it can change the configuration of
> your computer and screw the whole thing up, ruin it and all the
> programs you have in your files.
There are only a few ways that email could do anything destructive:
1) it exploits a security hole in the mail reader (before it was
patched a few years ago emacs had a problem like this: it executed
lisp code in any buffer it visited if it was properly formated - it
was possible to format destructive lisp code into a piece of email
then have a recipient read it with emacs...). I know of no known
holes in email readers at this time. Given the large number of mail
readers in use at this time, I can't see such a virus being very
successful.
2) it exploits a security hole in the mail routing software so that
the mail routing software interprets the mail as a debug script which
should be executed ( I believe that the Internet Worm that Robert
Morris launched in 1988 when he was at Cornell used this attack, among
others ). If such a virus exists, it has done its damage before any
human receives it in his mailbox.
3) it exploits a security hole in the wet-ware that owns the account (
i.e. the user - *YOU* ), asking the user to do something stupid (
otherwise known as "social engineering" ).
I believe that (a) this "warning email" is the virus itself, and (b)
it it reproduces via method 3.
Please do not forward the original virus mail.
--
TJIC (Travis J.I. Corcoran) TJIC@icd.teradyne.com
opinions(TJIC) != opinions(employer(TJIC))
"Buy a rifle, encrypt your data, and wait for the Revolution!"
