James, It's a virus. Check http://www.cai.com/virusinfo/virusalert.htm#wscript and search for a virus called "KAK". According to CAI it's a Win 98 only virus.
While email has -for a long time- been considered virus-safe as long as users didn't explicitly open or execute email attachement, this particular virus makes use of mail readers capable of executing scripts embedded in HTML. As such, opening a mail or merely using a mail client's preview option could trigger the payload. A quick web search gave me the following URL for Outlook Express users: http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/ie/security/email.asp You may want to read it if you want to disable executing HTML embedded script in your mail client. Check the web for other mail clients... Thanks to Kent for pointing this is out to the list. ----- Original Message ----- From: James Bucknell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Kent williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Ben1 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; 313 <313@hyperreal.org> Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2000 11:05 PM Subject: Re: (313) VERY IMPORTANT Ben1's EMAIL TO 313 HAS A VIRUS (NO HOAX) Re: (313) Carl Craig CD'S > > > i don't think this a problem. > any email transmitted virus is carried as an attachment. as far as i'm aware, > all attachments are stripped from emails before being posted on this list. > as such, nothing to worry about. > james > > > > > Kent williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 05/09/2000 04:49:00 PM > > Please respond to Kent williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: Ben1 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > cc: 313 <313@hyperreal.org> (bcc: James Bucknell/Magazines/Hearst) > Subject: (313) VERY IMPORTANT Ben1's EMAIL TO 313 HAS A VIRUS (NO HOAX) Re: > (313) Carl Craig CD'S > > > > > Very important -- this guy's (ben1) email contains a virus that will fuck your > computer up if you're using any Windows-based mail reader -- I don't > think from looking through the source that it will permanently damage your > machine, but here's what it does > > 1. Installs a program to run at Windows startup to re-infect your machine. > 2. Changes your e-mail signature to include HTML code that includes the > virus as a script. So anyone who gets the e-mail will be infected, and > can spread it. > 3. Makes a startup item that keeps windows from starting up. > > > To avoid being infected there is only one way in Outlook to get rid of the > message without showing the message and infecting your computer. > > 1. Open the View menu and select layout (alt-v alt-l) > 2. Uncheck the 'Show preview pane' option. > 3. Hit OK. > 4. Look for any message from this guy: > > From: Ben1 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: 313 <313@hyperreal.org> > Subject: (313) Carl Craig CD'S > > And delete it WITHOUT DOUBLECLICKING ON THE MESSAGE FIRST! > > This is a REAL THREAT! > > If you want to look at the text of the virus, it's at > http://avalon.net/~kent/virus.txt > > I replaced all occurrences of the SCRIPT tag with SCR*PT, so it > should be safe to look at, but DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK, ONLY IF > YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!! > > > kent williams -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > On Tue, 9 May 2000, Ben1 wrote: > > > > > Hi there can anyone send me a complete list of carl craig's cd's including any > imports as i think i'm pretty close to completing my collection. Thanks. > > Ben > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
