Recently an announcement went out over Screen-L about a supposed virus
known as AOL4FREE, which is a virus hoax.  Normally we do not post virus
warnings on Screen-L because so many of them are hoaxes.  This one slipped
through by mistake.
 
I'm posting this follow-up message, though, because AOL4FREE is a hoax that
has sort of become a reality.  Sort of.
 
Let me stress that it is IMPOSSIBLE to catch a virus just by reading a
plain ol' text e-mail message.
 
HOWEVER, it is possible to become infected by opening a file that is
ATTACHED to a plain ol' text e-mail message.  A file attachment is separate
from the message itself and may contain, say, a MS Word document or even
computer software.  If you open an infected document or run infected
software, then your computer will become sick.
 
Please check the documentation of your e-mail program for further
information on file ATTACHMENTS.
 
Now, what happened in the AOL4FREE case, as documented by the U.S.
Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability (
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ ) group is a hoax that said reading a message with
the subject related to AOL4FREE would destroy your harddisk.  This was and
is completely untrue.
 
Then, someone decided to create a simple little program--what's known as a
Trojan horse (looks like one thing, but is really another)--that could be
distributed as an e-mail FILE ATTACHMENT and would indeed delete all the
files on your PC (though not on Macs).
 
To repeat:  This is a FILE that is ATTACHED to a message and not the
message text itself.  Nothing you read on Screen-L, for example, can give
you a virus or destroy files on your computer.
 
So, to protect yourself:
 
NEVER EVER open a FILE ATTACHMENT from someone you do not know.
 
And be mighty suspicious of FILE ATTACHMENTS from persons you do know.
 
If you want all the details, please hop over to:
 
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/h-47a.shtml
 
where an "AOL4FREE Trojan Horse" bulletin was posted one week ago.
 
Please e-mail me directly (and not Screen-L) if you have any questions.
 
Regards,
 
----
Jeremy Butler
[log in to unmask]
ScreenSite http://www.sa.ua.edu/ScreenSite
Telecommunication & Film/University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa
 
----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite 
http://www.sa.ua.edu/screensite