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E-mail inboxes were flooded with messages this morning as a new
virus quickly spread around the world. Dubbed "Don't Fucking
Open Me" by anti-virus researchers, the infected e-mail follows
a similar course to other viruses and replicates by sending itself
out to everyone in the infected computer's Outlook and Outlook Express
address book. The virus also contains two different payloads: one
version formats the hard drive and displays the message "This
is for your own good"; the other payload creates random Power
Point presentations in the "My Documents" folder.
Savvy users can spot the virus by its subject which is "Don't
Fucking Open Me" or by the attachment which is entitled "Don't_Fucking_Open_Me.exe".
"This virus tricks the user with an old psychological tactic
called reverse psychology. Apparently the curiosity created by the
message has been too much for thousands of users," said anti-virus
researcher Bob Atibop. According to Atibop, this isn't the first
time reverse psychology has been used. In 1998, the "Don't Pee
on Your Keyboard" worm caused a flood of damage.
Researchers have seen large infection among AOL users and middle
managers, the two largest concentrations of naive and inept computer
users.
Claudia Hawkins who was infected by the virus said, "My son
told me not to open attachments, but.... I mean my MOM sent it! What
if she was hurt?!?"
Another infected user too embarrassed to reveal his name said, "I
thought that there was no way that this could be a virus. What kind
of stupid idiot virus writer would put a dumb title on it like that?
No one would ever open something that says not to open it. The virus
would never spread defeating the whole purpose of it."
Experts advise extreme caution when opening messages entitled "Don't
Fucking Open Me" or "Click Here for Cash and Virus Infection."
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