War story (probably)

[Ron Edwards]

Yesterday I received a friendly message from someone, asking me for any "advice" on an attached file called ACPexe1_7.exe.  I wrote back asking for some context - who he was, what was the file, why talk to me, and so on.

I did not open/run the file. It ended with "exe" after all.

Today I received a "message returned" postmaster letter, stating that the alias (Bryan_Scott_Hefner) was unknown/illegal.

Ah ha, thinks I, and deleted the bejeezus out of the original letter.

The text of that letter was friendly, flattering, and entirely vague - it did not have any mention of RPGs or any other thing, it mentioned nothing about the purpose of the file, and it just oozed familiarity, as if the fellow and I had already exchanged a few letters.

Beware, everyone. The fuckers DO exist.

Best,
Ron

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Yup.  There are a slew of nasty viruses out there that have exactly that type of message, along with a payload of evil file-destroying content.  One of the newest is called "sircam.exe" and contains the message:

"Hi! How are you?
 
I send you this file in order to have your advice
 
See you later. Thanks"

This virus reproduces by using the the ol' "send to everyone in your address book" method.  Obviously, never run any weird .vbs or .exe file...or allow macros in any Word/etc. document.

And don't talk to strangers, even if they DO have the best candy.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey Jared,

That was the EXACT text of the message, as it happens.

Best,
Ron

[GreatWolf]

Hmm.  One wonders if a "cyber-Sorcerer" chronicle could be run, with viruses and other computer programs being the "demons".

(Seth scratches his head and thinks.)

[Supplanter]

That's the last thing we need is the FBI busting in on Ron's house and giving him the ol' Steve Jackson Treatment. :wink: Heck, for all I know, Ron may have a dog, and SWAT teams seem to be obsessed with shooting dogs.

Best,


Jim

[Clay]

About once every two months I get something like that too, but the text of the message looks like bad notes from a meeting.

Computer Viri as demons wouldn't be a bad idea.  It sounds a lot like the whole "Ghost In The Machine" idea.  The thing probably should be written by somebody with a computer security background though (Clinton, you listening).  I've got just enough of a security background that I can sniff out when an author is BSing the technical stuff, and it grates.  Best that a non-technical author shouldn't try to get technical.

[Paul Czege]

I just got this virus emailed to me. It came anonymously. The text of the email was exactly the same as Jared described. The attached file was named risus15.zip.pif, although the .pif extension was not visible within Windows Explorer. I think I need to have a conversation with S. John Ross.

[Gordon C. Landis]

If you want the details, take a look at:

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sircam.worm@mm.html

The virus is apparently clever enough to name its' attachment after a file on the (unsuspecting) sender's computer.

Gordon C. Landis

[Paul Czege]

Hey Gordon,

Yeah, I was joking about taking my ire to S. John Ross. I doubt my email address is on his computer. However, with the virus supposedly getting its name from a random file on the sender's infected computer, it just so happens I got something I recognize. So I know from the Risus filename that it was some gamer I've corresponded with who must have sent it to me. It's disappointing actually. I wish I could blame it on my stepdad.

Paul

[Gordon C. Landis]

On 2001-07-26 00:57, Paul Czege wrote:
Yeah, I was joking about taking my ire to S. John Ross.

No, no, take your ire to him - I understand he's running out and needs more :wink:

Gordon C. Landis

[joshua neff]

I just got an email much like the one's you describe--here's a generic email with an attachment I won't describe for you to look at.
Riiiiiight. Delete. Bye bye, sucker.

[Mytholder]

So I know from the Risus filename that it was some gamer I've corresponded with who must have sent it to me. It's disappointing actually.

Whoever you got the virus from doesn't know they sent it to you. SirCam reads your outlook address book and sends a random file to people in the address book. The person using the computer doesn't know what's going on. They're innocent (apart from being stupid enough to open an infected file....)

[greyorm]

On 2001-07-24 19:36, GreatWolf wrote:
Hmm.  One wonders if a "cyber-Sorcerer" chronicle could be run, with viruses and other computer programs being the "demons".

Wait a week!

[Clay]

On 2001-07-25 23:43, Paul Czege wrote:
The attached file was named risus15.zip.pif, although the .pif extension was not visible within Windows Explorer. I think I need to have a conversation with S. John Ross.

I'm not sure what this virus does, but I can tell you that it was written with Delphi.  I'm also going to go out on a limb and suggest that it was targetted at members of this board, considering how many people here have received it, and the specificity of the message.

Yesterday was a banner day, with two separate viri arriving in my mainbox.

[Jack Spencer Jr]

shit.  this is all my fault.

Actually it isn't my fault, it's the fault of the guy who sent me the damn thing in the first place.  But I was stupid and opened it and now it spreads.

Damn damn damn

I wonder why the virus used "Risus15.zip" as a name and not "Elfs.zip"?  hm... descructive and biased...