Re: A85: Re: SD: IMPORTANT: YAHOO VIRUS

[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: A85: Re: SD: IMPORTANT: YAHOO VIRUS


I'd just like to say thanks to Keith for posting this. I may be in the
minority on this, but if the Yahoo virus had really been something to
worry about, I'd be more than happy to recieve a notice of it. Thanks
keith. One thing I always liked about the 85 and programming it is that
it was a little net community, like the phenomenon Quake is now on a
smaller scale. So if we look out for each other its fine with me. Though
when we all moan and complain to each other its a pain in the butt, but
I think we can live through it. Oh and on discrediting the virus, I read
in the San Francisco Chronicle (I live in the bay area), that the
pathetic nature of it was that it would accelerate the internal clocks
of computers to have the year 2000 bug come sooner. Now everyone with
enough computer knowledge should know by now that thats complete BS, and
the 2000 bug is as well. The only computers excpected to become victims
of the 2000 bug are large, antiquated mainframes from bygone eras, and I
seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt they have net access on those.

Adam Schwarcz



82nd Deer wrote:

> (I did a reply all, if you don't know who I am, this is a response to
> something Keith Burzinski wrote)
>
> DON'T DO THIS!  Posting things like this on topics you have NO
> knowledge
> about is immature and only spreads needless panic.  Hell, tell them
> aliens
> are comming too while your at it.  People at the Anti-Virus Labs at
> the
> NCSA have publicly stated that such a virus would be, well,
> practically
> impossible for a small group of hackers.  Also, government defense
> workers
> have said the following: "the date was set so far in advance...  as to
> give
> plenty of time for hysteria and nervousness to build, yet not too soon
> that
> they're found out for what they are."
>
> What happened is not an amazing thing at all, all that happened is a
> site
> got hacked into.  It happens every day.  High profile sites are not an
>
> exception.
>
> Here's a fulltext article for you:
>
> NEW YORK — Hackers broke into Yahoo!, the Internet's
> most popular site, demanding the release of an imprisoned
> comrade and threatening to unleash a crippling computer
> virus if he is not freed.
> Computer security experts were skeptical of the hackers'
> claim that they had implanted such a virus.
> The hackers, calling themselves PANTS/HAGIS, got into
> Yahoo!'s World Wide Web site Monday night, leaving a
> digital ransom note.
> Yahoo! is a computer directory widely used for searching
> the Internet. The note appeared briefly in place of the
> Yahoo! home page, preventing people online from using
> the search engine, which got 17.2 milllion visits in
> October.
> "For the past month, anyone who has viewed Yahoo's
> page & used their search engine, now has a logic
> bomb/worm implanted deep within their computer," it
> read. "On Christmas Day, 1998, the logic bomb part of this
> 'virus' will become active, wreaking havoc upon the entire
> planet's networks.
> "The virus can be stopped. But not by mortals."
> The note said an "antidote" program will be made available
> if hacker Kevin Mitnick is released. Mitnick was indicted
> last year on charges involving a multimillion-dollar crime
> wave in cyberspace.
> Yahoo! representatives did not immediately return calls for
> comment.
> Jonathan Wheat, manager of the Anti-Virus Lab at the
> National Computer Security Association, said it is at least
> theoretically possible to exploit security flaws on the
> Internet and implant such a virus. But he said he doubts
> this group of hackers — already known to security experts
> — pulled it off.
> "That's pretty much ridiculous," agreed Jamonn
> Campbell, an information security analyst at the
> association.
> Wheat said there was little reason to be concerned that
> the popular Web site was hacked.
> "A lot of Web sites get hacked constantly," he said. He
> said that while Yahoo! is a high-profile site and should be
> expected to have better security than most, "no site is
> completely hack-proof."
>
> At 08:57 PM 12/10/97 -0800, Keith Burzinski wrote:
> >
> >I just thought I'd let you all know:
> >There may be a virus implanted into the Yahoo Search Engine.  I
> >personally have no way to confirm this, however there was a warning
> >message posted at my dad's work saying that some guy had implanted a
> >virus into the engine and was currently using it as a threat (to
> release
> >it) to get his friend out of jail.  This is all I know; I just
> thought
> >you should all be warned in the event that this is true.
> >
> >For those of you on the TICalc.org mailing lists, I apologize for the
>
> >multiple posts to all the lists, but I just wanted to make sure that
> you
> >all saw this.  I'm also sorry since this is off topic!
> ---
>  Eviljim (Jim Reardon)
>  eviljim@megsinet.net
>  ICQ UIN #1893323 (talk to me!)
>  http://eviljim.home.ml.org
>  "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and
> I'm
> not sure about the former."
References: