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Name: Microsoft Home
Page Virus Hoax
Alias: Red Alert
Description:
This is a warning on a nasty
hoax that has been distributed on several mailing lists and in usenet news. The
hoax message is falsely attributed to Mikko.Hypponen
from F-PROT Professional Support.
This false warning urges people
to stay off Microsoft's home page and not to use Microsoft Internet Explorer,
because the 'Microsoft home page is possibly infected by a virus'. This is
nonsense.
If you have seen this warning,
please pass on this message, and please do not redistribute the original warning
anymore.
The origins on this nasty hoax
is as of yet unknown. The original hoax warning is quoted here in full:
****
Red Alert for anybody using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as
their web browser.
This came in on the virus forum at the University of Hamburg
from a fairly reliable source: Mikko H. Hypponen
(Mikko.Hypponen) in Finland. (datafellows is
an anti-virus company)
The first indication that something was amiss was when the computer
of an MIS professional friend of Mikko's was completely wiped --
including BIOS and CMOS -- on 11-20-96. It took a great deal of
arguing with Microsoft until 11-22-96 (logged at 0930 hours) when
they finally admitted something was wrong and took "their homepage
into their lab."
Mikko's first report was at 11:13 on 11-22-96. By 13:17 on 11-22-96
the following message was received:
---------------------------------------------------------
> Okay, it's official (last conversation with techs at 1200 hrs,
> 11-22-96, virus confirmed) Western Digital and Microsoft
> confirm that a new virus is on the web and they cannot
> isolate it. The only thing they know for sure is that it
> completely wipes out a computer. As of this time, they cannot
> determine how best to get rid of the thing once it is in your
> system.
>
[irrelevant "in-joke" cut]
>
> They are recommending that until they can isolate it (it appears
> to be coming from several locations) you just stay off the web.
---------------------------------------------------------
This sounds like a trojan rather than a virus, but it is extremely
destructive nonetheless.
Unless you can filter addresses so your webbrowser will not
go to Microsoft's home page, stay off Microsoft's home page
until further notice. (As Mikko post updates, I'll forward
them.)
Incidentally, Mikko and his friend *were* frequent users of Microsoft's
Web browser.
---end hoax---
***
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