Date Added: April 13, 2000
Last Updated: April 13, 2000
Most virus hoax chain letters are all based on a very old formula. Dating back to at least 1999, Wobbler is an oldie, but still going strong.
VIRUS WARNING
A new Virus - WOBBLER is on the loose. It will arrive on e-mail titled "HOW to GIVE A CAT A COLONIC". IBM and AOL have announced that it is very powerful, more so than Melissa.
There is no remedy. It will eat all your information on the hard drive and also destroys Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Do not open anything with this title and please pass this message on to all your contacts and anyone who uses your e-mail facility. Not many people seem to know about this yet so propagate it as fast as possible. This information was announced yesterday morning by IBM.
Please share it with everyone in your address book so that the spreading of the virus may be stopped. This is a very dangerous Virus and there is no remedy for it at this time. Please practice cautionary measures and forward this to all your online friends A.S.A.P.
Hewlett-Packard Limited Sales Support
(Government & Defense)
Cain Road
As with its predecessor, the "Guts to Say Jesus" hoax. Dissecting this one line-by-line is a lesson in virus hoax anatomy:
A new Virus - WOBBLER is on the loose. It will arrive on e-mail titled "HOW to GIVE A CAT A COLONIC". Umm, if you would eagerly read a message called "How to Give a Cat a Colonic," maybe you deserve to be infected. Seriously, though, many viruses over the years have used potentially embarrassing subject lines to add insult to injury for those who are unlucky enough to open them. This bit preys on that fear of additional embarrassment.
IBM and AOL have announced... IBM and AOL are not in the antivirus business. Companies like McAfee, Cheyenne, DataFellows, and Symantec are, but which names do you recognize more? Hoaxters put the most recognizable names on messages to add credibility.
...it is very powerful, more so than Melissa. Again, name recognition. Melissa got a lot of press back in 1999 because it hit large companies. Problem is, Melissa wasn't that bad and certainly didn't do anything near what the warning claims Wobbler will do. Melissa did not destroy data, it only sent itself out via e-mails to everyone in an infected system's address book, thus crashing e-mail systems.
There is no remedy. Of course not. Things like this are much scarier if we can't cure them. Fact is, fighting viruses is pretty easy. The major antivirus firms had remedies ready for Melissa before the press could get their stories out.
It will eat all your information on the hard drive and also destroys Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Two problems here: First of all, do you think a representative from Hewlett-Packard's Government and Defense Sales Support would use such non-techie terminology as "eat all your information" and "destroys Netscape..."? Second, since your Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, wouldn't it stand to reason that if it is erased, so too will be these programs? This message is obviously preying on the technologically impaired.
Do not open anything with this title... With very few exceptions, the simple act of opening an e-mail, no matter what the title, will not infect your computer with a virus. You can, however get infected by opening an executable file attachment that contains the virus. That's why it's good practice to never open any file attachment you weren't expecting.
please pass this message on to all your contacts and anyone who uses your e-mail facility. Aren't you mature enough to make your own decisions about who you should forward a message to. If we believe a message to be true, interesting, or funny enough, we don't need to be told to forward it on. This is a giant red flag that a warning is a hoax.
Not many people seem to know about this yet so propagate it as fast as possible. Not many people know about it because IT'S NOT TRUE!!!! The only thing you'll be propagating is a hoax.
This information was announced yesterday morning by IBM. When was yesterday? There's no date on this message, so it will circulate for years and everyone who gets it for the first time will think it's brand new.
Please share it with everyone in your address book so that the spreading of the virus may be stopped. This is a very dangerous Virus and there is no remedy for it at this time. Please practice cautionary measures and forward this to all your online friends A.S.A.P. Can you say redundancy? Besides, we mentioned above that the most dangerous viruses are the ones that send themselves out to everyone in your address book. The author of this message is asking you to do the same thing! Perhaps this is some form of "lazy-hacker's virus."
Hewlett-Packard Limited Sales Support
(Government & Defense)
Cain Road Sounds impressive, doesn't it? But why would a representative from HP be sending this message out? Especially someone in sales to Government and Defense? Think about the media backlash a computer company would get from implying that they could inadvertently infect their customers! Most likey this information was automatically appended to the message when an HP employee fell for it and forwarded it on. It definitely should not be mistaken as a professional endorsement.
Depending on e-mail chain letters to defend against viruses is akin to hiding from someone behind a plate-glass window - it's utterly ineffective and gives you a false sense of security while it may actually expose you to risks. For real ways to prevent unwanted intrusions on your data, read "Protecting Your PC" in the Chain-Breaker's Library.
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