Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 9:50 AM
Subject: Virus Warning from Puget Sound Computer Services

Info for all,

I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus. Get this E-mail message sent around to your employees ASAP. You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,' regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C: drive of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where your vital information is kept.

 

really? no really are you falling for this?

snopes.com: 'Postcard from a Family Member' virus

go to the bottom.....

 

our company uses a computer service provider and they sent this to us. I think this one maybe a different virus. Do not know why a company we pay to protect our computers and provide services to us would send us a BS warning.


Just thought I would share.


hope it is just BS. never know.

Ed

 

I just got nailed with the adware virus and it was a pain in the butt to get my computer clean and running full force again.
Hallmark has a click on right on their sight that tells people what their real ecards will look like and that YOU ARE NOT to open any that you are not 100% sure of and they show you the diff between real and fake. But that is just for Hallmark ecards. I dont know about any others.
I just do not ever open anything I am unsure of. I am sure I have sent alot of good emails, jokes, cards etc to the trash bin just because.
I had let my ex husband use my computer to check his email and he had to go play on "my space" and next thing you know my computer was jacked all to heck. But thanks to Iolo, norton and a great person at HP my computer is healthy and virus free.

 

I got kinda off track in earlier post. If it was so bogus Hallmark would not have a spot on their site telling about bogus e cards and viruses. But who am I? I am just a motel/cowgirl and not a computer guruess. (is that even a word)

 

there is nothing that will "burn" your hard drive, there are things that get a bunch of comps to call one comp at the same time to over load it and get it to shut down but that is very different from this one. and Microsoft never classifed this as anything...

why did they send it to you? so you think they are doing something i dont know?

 

cause we pay them to protect and service our system!

Not sure what you know or how you would know, but if you are in the computer Industry and this is for real, at least you know now.

I do parts, not computers. just trying to warn people cause its the right thing to do.



Ed

 

thanks fte parts guy

 

this is where i got my info...read the part at the bottom:

snopes.com: 'Postcard from a Family Member' virus

 

i got a virus from someone via my space thru ex husband. It was something attached to them. It screwed with my computer in a most horrible way. I have drivers that are GONE now I have pics that are gone...it was awful.
I have seen these ecard messages in my in box and never even open em just because those i love and love me always send me an email never a card.

 

This is why I do webmail...

Jason

 

Okay at the risk of sounding stupid (which is really easy for me) what is "webmail"?

 

"This is why I do webmail... "

Same here, and I will never use Outlook on a home computer.

"Webmail" services such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail allow you to access your email from any computer using a web browser (I use Firefox and Opera) and they scan for viruses on their end while filtering spam. You should still use updated AV software, and if friends are in the habit of forwarding every stupid forward THEY receive, just delete without opening.

"I have drivers that are GONE now I have pics that are gone."

Burn everything that matters to CD/DVD at lowest possible burn speed setting, then check each file to make sure of a proper backup. Collect all the drivers you need by downloading them, and make sure you have copies of all your software with product keys written to the CD or DVD with a Sharpie marker.

Proper backup would allow you, if necessary, to restore your files, bookmarks, etc to a completely different computer when yours dies.

If you wonder whether a virus or malware warning is legit, just Google the virus or malware name along with Symantec or McAfee or other AV maker name. They will have advisories. There is no reason to EVER forward generic "virus warning" emails because a LINK to valid information allows the recipient to make an INFORMED decision.

Every computer user should spend a good amount of time becoming familiar with backing up their data, preventing infection, and general computer security.

 

The spread of virus warning emails and posts are worse the the virus themselves. 99% of them are hoaxes, even when sent from IT guys. No offense meant, but these are typically called "gullibility viruses" because the only virus that exists is the warning post/email itself and the only way it spreads is by, well, fooling people.

You don't need "web mail" to protect yourself from viruses. I've managed to keep my PC's virus free since the dawn of Windows.

 

True, you don't NEED webmail, but it works. I have a Yahoo account, a Gmail account and two on my ISP. I never liked Outlook or Outlook Express, and I couldn't get Eudora to work the way I wanted it to with multiple accounts in XP, so I just quit using programs like that and switched to online mail only. It's just another layer of protection on top of what I already have (router firewall, AV software and anti-spyware/anti-malware).

Jason