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Goodtimes Virus
The Goodtimes virus, also styled as Good Times virus, was a computer virus hoax that spread during the early years of the Internet's popularity. Warnings about a computer virus named "Good Times" began being passed around among Internet users in 1994. The Goodtimes virus was supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header "Good Times" or "Goodtimes", hence the virus's name, and the warning recommended deleting any such email unread. The virus described in the warnings did not exist, but the warnings themselves were, in effect, virus-like. In 1997 the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective announced that they had been responsible for the perpetration of the "Good Times" virus hoax as an exercise to "prove the gullibility of self-proclaimed 'experts' on the Internet". History The first recorded email warnings about the Good Times virus showed up on 15 November 1994. The first message was brief, a simple five sentence email with a Christmas greeting, advising recipien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Virus Hoax
A computer virus hoax is a message warning the recipients of a non-existent computer virus Threat (computer), threat. The message is usually a chain e-mail that tells the recipients to forward it to everyone they know, but it can also be in the form of a pop-up window. Identification Most hoaxes are sensational in nature and easily identified by the fact that they indicate that the virus will do nearly impossible things, like blow up the recipient's computer and set it on fire, or less sensationally, delete everything on the user's computer. They often include fake announcements claimed to originate from reputable computer organizations together with mainstream news media. These bogus sources are quoted in order to give the hoax more credibility. Typically, the warnings use emotive language, stress the urgent nature of the threat and encourage readers to forward the message to other people as soon as possible. Virus hoaxes are usually harmless and accomplish nothing more than annoy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |