Bad Times is a

computer virus A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

sent out by e-mail. This "virus" does not actually exist, and the "warning" is meant to parody the alarmist message that spread the hoax of the Goodtimes virus hoax. The "Badtimes" email followed the principles of "Goodtimes", by warning of the horrible consequences that the alleged virus could inflict. However, "Badtimes" attempted to make itself implausible even to people unfamiliar with computers, although it started by claiming that the virus would wipe the victim's computer hard disk drive: implausible claims that "Badtimes" made included using subspace field harmonics to scratch any CDs that the victim attempted to play, drinking all the beer, and leaving dirty socks on the coffee table when the victim expected company. Some versions of "Badtimes" claimed that the virus replaced lunch meat with

Spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...

, while making the victim's cologne and perfume smell like pickled cucumber. It is unclear whether the "Badtimes" email can be classed as a joke or a hoax: in June 2006,

Sophos Sophos Group plc is a British based security software and hardware company. Sophos develops products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management. Sophos is primarily ...

acknowledged that "Badtimes" meant to parody virus hoax emails, but nevertheless advised against forwarding the joke email, in case the recipients misunderstood the threat to be real. The hoax inspired a musical version, by the group Laika, where the female lyricist recites the contents of one of the versions of the virus. The

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

song "

Virus Alert A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 18 ...

" contains several similar claims in its lyrics.

References

External links

Sophos hoax description: BadtimesBadtimes Lyrics
{{Authority control Virus hoaxes Internet memes