Beware the virus!

[Sara S]

VIRUS


PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CONTACTS!

In the coming days, you should be aware.....Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK, regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic torch that burns the whole hard disc C of your computer.

Virus name: KOOBFACE

This virus will be received from someone you had in your address book. That's why you should send this message to all your contacts. It is better to receive this email 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

If you receive an email called: Invitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend, do not open it and delete it immediately. It is the worst virus announced by CNN. A new virus has been discovered recently that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

It is a Trojan Horse that asks you to watch a YOU TUBE video and install an adobe flash plug-in. Once you install it, it's all over. 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 of their function is saved.

SNOPES SAYS THIS IS TRUE........... here is a link to Snopes for you: https://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/koobface.asp

["Mad" Miles]

Sara,

The Snopes.com page on the Koobface malware, was last updated four years ago.

Jus'say'in. In internet time, that's a thousand years. Anyway, thanks for the "incoming!" notice.


Irrelevant tangent:

I hate the phrase, "Let me give you a head's up." Cause it's always some kind of unpleasant, or at best neutral, news.

On the battlefield, the last thing you want to do is stick your head up as the sh*t is flying!

"Incoming!!", seems more appropriate.

[Hotspring 44]

Sara,

The Snopes.com page on the Koobface malware, was last updated four years ago.

Jus'say'in. In internet time, that's a thousand years. Anyway, thanks for the "incoming!" notice.


Irrelevant tangent:

I hate the phrase, "Let me give you a head's up." Cause it's always some kind of unpleasant, or at best neutral, news.

On the battlefield, the last thing you want to do is stick your head up as the sh*t is flying!

"Incoming!!", seems more appropriate.:plumber::peepwall::shitstorm::hitfan::duck: ... ...LOL!!

[Barry]

This is real:

Threat AssessmentWild

Wild Level: Medium
Number of Infections: 50 - 999
Number of Sites: 3 - 9
Geographical Distribution: Low
Threat Containment: Easy
Removal: Easy

Damage

Damage Level: Medium
Payload: Various activities including stealing of information and opening a back door.

Distribution

Distribution Level: Medium
Target of Infection: Spreads through social networking sites.



VIRUS


PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CONTACTS!

In the coming days, you should be aware.....Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK, regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic torch that burns the whole hard disc C of your computer.

Virus name: KOOBFACE

This virus will be received from someone you had in your address book. That's why you should send this message to all your contacts. It is better to receive this email 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

If you receive an email called: Invitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend, do not open it and delete it immediately. It is the worst virus announced by CNN. A new virus has been discovered recently that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

It is a Trojan Horse that asks you to watch a YOU TUBE video and install an adobe flash plug-in. Once you install it, it's all over. 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 of their function is saved.

SNOPES SAYS THIS IS TRUE........... here is a link to Snopes for you: https://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/koobface.asp

[Dixon]

Sara, contrary to what was stated by someone earlier on this thread, the Snopes page on the Koobface malware was updated less than 2 years ago. I'd say that's recent enough to make it worthwhile to apprise us of the possible threat, at least in terms of erring on the safe side. Thanks for sharing the info.

[foxrosie]

I've been getting this message from many people (about the Koobface threat) .... but what strikes me as exceedingly ODD is that there is a LINK included in these warning notices. Supposedly, a LINK to the SNOPES listing. But actual malware, which often contains a dangerous LINK, can hide behind the pretense of being a malware warning. Therefore, I would think that a bonafide warning would NOT contain a LINK ... but would just give you directions for checking information out on SNOPES yourself. If the messsage contains a LINK, I'm always suspicious that it may be the actual malware, in disguise.

Just my 2-cents. Because of this LINK, I've been suspicious of the purported "warnings" and have deleted them. I did go to SNOPES to look it up, but did not get the sense that this was the same message that SNOPES described. And, as MAD MILES pointed out, the SNOPES mention was very very old.

So, what's the deal here? Anyone know?

[Dixon]

Lani, ("foxrosie"), I accessed the Snopes Koobface page through the Snopes home page, and compared it to the page brought up by the link in the initial post in this thread. They are the same page. I also found a related Snopes page which says the Koobface virus is no longer active, having been wiped out by the Facebook crew in 2010, so apparently this info is outdated after all.

[foxrosie]

Thanks Dixon, for checking this out. I was too cautious to do that comparison test, not wanting to follow the LINK on the warning, just in case the WARNING was the HOAX! I do think it's a good practice for anyone generating or forwarding a warning to NOT include a live LINK - lest their warning look suspicious to those of us who are thinking along theses lines - and simply include verbal directions for checking something out on SNOPES.

You are a brave soul, dear Dixon!

[podfish]

Irrelevant tangent:

I hate the phrase, "Let me give you a head's up." Cause it's always some kind of unpleasant, or at best neutral, news.

On the battlefield, the last thing you want to do is stick your head up as the sh*t is flying!

"Incoming!!", seems more appropriate.
Irrelevant followup: "Heads up" (without the apostrophe) is for a less dire situation.
If you want them to shift their attention to something headed their way, rather than dive for cover, it works!

[Dixon]

You are a brave soul, dear Dixon!
Thanks, but from what you say, I was actually just stupid. Or at least ignorant and foolhardy. :whackasmilie: