Erlkönig: dont-open-me-virus.shtml

[collected 2002-03-06 09:33:41 CST]

E-mail inboxes were flooded with messages this morning as a new virus
quickly spread around the world. Dubbed "Don't Fucking Open Me" by
anti-virus researchers, the infected e-mail follows a similar course to other
viruses and replicates by sending itself out to everyone in the infected
computer's Outlook and Outlook Express address book. The virus also
contains two different payloads: one version formats the hard drive and
displays the message "This is for your own good"; the other payload creates
random Power Point presentations in the "My Documents" folder. 

Savvy users can spot the virus by its subject which is "Don't Fucking Open
Me" or by the attachment which is entitled "Don't_Fucking_Open_Me.exe". 

"This virus tricks the user with an old psychological tactic called reverse
psychology. Apparently the curiosity created by the message has been too
much for thousands of users," said anti-virus researcher Bob Atibop.
According to Atibop, this isn't the first time reverse psychology has been
used. In 1998, the "Don't Pee on Your Keyboard" worm caused a flood of
damage. 

Researchers have seen large infection among AOL users and middle
managers, the two largest concentrations of naive and inept computer
users. 

Claudia Hawkins who was infected by the virus said, "My son told me not to
open attachments, but.... I mean my MOM sent it! What if she was hurt?!?" 

Another infected user too embarrassed to reveal his name said, "I thought
that there was no way that this could be a virus. What kind of stupid idiot
virus writer would put a dumb title on it like that? No one would ever open
something that says not to open it. The virus would never spread defeating
the whole purpose of it." 

Experts advise extreme caution when opening messages entitled "Don't
Fucking Open Me" or "Click Here for Cash and Virus Infection".