<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> We recently had a post to the CELIAC list warning about an e-mail virus that could do all sorts of terrible things to your computer, and the computers belonging to everyone else who's e-mail addresses you happened to have on your computer. I want to inform everyone that this is a HOAX. You CANNOT infect your computer with a virus just by reading an e-mail note. The only way you can get a virus from an e-mail note is if it is as an attachment, stored as a separate file on your computer, and then executed separately. (If you don't know what I mean when I refer to an "attachment", then relax; you haven't gotten a computer virus.) The only exception to this is a Microsoft Word virus which can infect your computer by opening an infected Microsoft Word document. E-mail messages which claim dire consequences from reading an e-mail note were written with one goal in mind: To see how many people could be fooled into passing the warning note on to others. One such note, warning of the so-call GOOD TIMES virus, has been going around e-mail and usenet circles for years now. In a sense, by coercing others to pass on these false warnings, the warnings themselves become like a virus; they get spread all over the internet and seem to take on a life of their own. The best way to defeat these tactics is to recognize them as not being genuine and to avoid sending them on to others. When in doubt, get a second opinion from a trusted computer expert before sending the warning on. Or you can visit the U.S. Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Web page. The hoax-specific information is at: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html I know that the note posted to the list about this alleged virus was done so under the best of intentions. However, in the future the listowners would prefer to see such warnings sent to us first so that we can evaluate whether or not there is a real threat and the best steps to take to deal with such a threat. You can send such warnings to <[log in to unmask]>. We will advise you if it is a hoax or if any action is required. For the CELIAC listowners, Jim Lyles ........ <[log in to unmask]> ........ Holly, Michigan, USA