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Computer underground Digest Sun April 30, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 34
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Copy Desecrator: Emo Shrdlu
CONTENTS, #7.34 (Sun, April 30, 1995)
File 1-- ***VIRUS INFO*** (GOOD TIMES VIRUS A HOAX, FOLKS!)
File 2--Clipper paper available for anon FTP
File 3--New Maillist battles Omnibus Terrorism Bill/Join NOW! (fwd)
File 4--Ohio Job Opening
File 5--making reality acceptable: cybercafe @ compress
File 6--Playing to Win in DC June 1-4
File 7--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 02:14:46 -0400
From: "Robert A. Rosenberg" <hal9001@PANIX.COM>
Subject: File 1-- ***VIRUS INFO*** (GOOD TIMES VIRUS A HOAX, FOLKS!)
((MODERATORS' NOTE: We've received number of posts regarding the
so-called "Good Times" virus, and "warnings" have appeared on
many of the news groups we read. The following is unlikely to
end it until it's time to pay the modem tax)).
Originally from: <AMEND1-L%UAFSYSB.BITNET@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
At 18:04 4/26/95, 00bawhelchel@bsuvc.bsu.edu wrote:
[Another "Good Times" Virus Warning]
Here we go again <g>.
The "Good Times Virus" is a Urban Legend. In reality it is composed of the
mass mailing of spurious warnings like the above from those who
(admittedly) are trying to be helpful.
Here is the real story (Note that date on the warning to see how long this
BS has been going on).
================================================================
CIAC Notes
Number 94-04c:December 8, 1994
Welcome to the fourth issue of CIAC Notes! This is a special edition
to clear up recent reports of a "good times" virus-hoax. Let us know
if you have topics you would like addressed or have feedback on what
is useful and what is not. Please contact the editor, Allan L. Van
Lehn, CIAC, 510-422-8193 or send E-mail to ciac@llnl.gov.
Reference to any specific commercial product does not necessarily
constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by
CIAC, the University of California, or the United States Government.
THE "Good Times" VIRUS IS AN URBAN LEGEND
In the early part of December, CIAC started to receive information
requests about a supposed "virus" which could be contracted via
America OnLine, simply by reading a message. The following is the
message that CIAC received:
Here is some important information. Beware of a file called Goodtimes.
Happy Chanukah everyone, and be careful out there. There is a virus on America
Online being sent by E-Mail. If you get anything called "Good Times",
DON'T read it or download it. It is a virus that will erase your hard
drive. Forward this to all your friends. It may help them a lot.
THIS IS A HOAX. Upon investigation, CIAC has determined that this message
originated from both a user of America Online and a student at a university
at approximately the same time, and it was meant to be a hoax.
CIAC has also seen other variations of this hoax, the main one is that
any electronic mail message with the subject line of "xxx-1" will
infect your computer.
This rumor has been spreading very widely. This spread is due mainly
to the fact that many people have seen a message with "Good Times" in
the header. They delete the message without reading it, thus
believing that they have saved themselves from being attacked.
These first-hand reports give a false sense of credibility to the
alert message.
There has been one confirmation of a person who received a message
with "xxx-1" in the header, but an empty message body. Then, (in a
panic, because he had heard the alert), he checked his PC for viruses
(the first time he checked his machine in months) and found a
pre-existing virus on his machine. He incorrectly came to the
conclusion that the E-mail message gave him the virus (this particular
virus could NOT POSSIBLY have spread via an E-mail message). This
person then spread his alert.
As of this date, there are no known viruses which can infect merely
through reading a mail message. For a virus to spread some program
must be executed. Reading a mail message does not execute the mail
message. Yes, Trojans have been found as executable attachments to
mail messages, the most notorious being the IBM VM Christmas Card
Trojan of 1987, also the TERM MODULE Worm (reference CIAC Bulletin
B-7) and the GAME2 MODULE Worm (CIAC Bulletin B-12). But this is not
the case for this particular "virus" alert.
If you encounter this message being distributed on any mailing lists,
simply ignore it or send a follow-up message stating that this is a
false rumor.
Karyn Pichnarczyk
CIAC Team
ciac@llnl.gov
WHO IS CIAC?
CIAC is the U.S. Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability.
Established in 1989, shortly after the Internet Worm, CIAC provides
various computer security services free of charge to employees and
contractors of the DOE, such as: Incident Handling consulting,
Computer Security Information, On-site Workshops, White-hat Audits.
CIAC is located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and is a
part of its Computer Security Technology Center. CIAC is also a
founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security
Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and
coordination among computer security teams worldwide.
CONTACTING CIAC
If you require additional assistance or wish to report a
vulnerability, call CIAC at 510-422-8193, fax messages to 510-423-8002
or send E-mail to ciac@llnl.gov.
ATTENTION: For emergencies and off-hour assistance, CIAC is available 24-hours
a day to DOE and DOE contractors via an integrated voicemail and
SKYPAGE number. To use this service, dial 1-510-422-8193 or
1-800-759-7243 (SKYPAGE). The primary SKYPAGE PIN number, 8550070 is
for the CIAC duty person. A second PIN, 8550074 is for the CIAC
Project Leader. Keep these numbers handy.
CIAC's ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS
Previous CIAC Bulletins and other information are available via
anonymous FTP from ciac.llnl.gov.
CIAC has several self-subscribing mailing lists for electronic publications:
1. CIAC-BULLETIN for Advisories, highest priority - time critical
information, and Bulletins, important computer security information;
2. CIAC-NOTES for Notes, a collection of computer security articles;
3. SPI-ANNOUNCE for official news about Security Profile Inspector (SPI)
software updates, new features, distribution and availability;
4. SPI-NOTES, for discussion of problems and solutions regarding the
use of SPI products.
Our mailing lists are managed by a public domain software package called
ListProcessor, which ignores E-mail header subject lines. To subscribe
(add yourself) to one of our mailing lists, send requests of the
following form:
subscribe list-name LastName, FirstName PhoneNumber
as the E-mail message body, substituting CIAC-BULLETIN, CIAC-NOTES,
SPI-ANNOUNCE or SPI-NOTES for "list-name" and valid information for
"LastName" "FirstName" and "PhoneNumber." Send to:
ciac-listproc@llnl.gov (NOT to: ciac@llnl.gov)
e.g.,
subscribe ciac-notes O'Hara, Scarlett 404-555-1212 x36
subscribe ciac-bulletin O'Hara, Scarlett 404-555-1212 x36
You will receive an acknowledgment containing address and initial PIN,
and information on how to change either of them, cancel your
subscription, or get help.
To subscribe an address which is a distribution list, first subscribe
the person responsible for your distribution list. You will receive an
acknowledgment (as described above). Change the address to the
distribution list by sending a second E-mail request. As the body of
this message, substitute valid information for "list-name," "PIN", and
"address of the distribution list" when sending
E-mail to ciac-listproc@llnl.gov:
set list-name address PIN distribution_list_address
e.g., set ciac-notes address 001860 remailer@tara.georgia.orb
To be removed from a mailing list, send the following request via
E-mail to ciac-listproc@llnl.gov:
unsubscribe list-name
e.g., unsubscribe ciac-notes
For more information, send the following request:
help
If you have any questions about this list, you may contact the list's owner:
listmanager@cheetah.llnl.gov.
This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the
United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the
University of California nor any of their employees, makes any
warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or
responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any
information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents
that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference
herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by
trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not
necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or
favoring by the United States Government or the University of
California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not
necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or
the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or
product endorsement purposes.
End of CIAC Notes Number 94-04c 94_12_08
UCRL-MI-119788
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 15:24:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Froomkin <mfroomki@UMIAMI.IR.MIAMI.EDU>
Subject: File 2--Clipper paper available for anon FTP
My paper, "The Metaphor is the Key: Cryptography, the Clipper Chip, and
the Constitution" is now available for anonymous FTP. It is about 180pp.
long, and contains more than 800 references.
I would welcome your feedback on this paper -- even (especially?)
contributions to the inevitable errata sheet.
(Please note this docment resides at what is officially a "temporary"
site, so that if you create a web link to it, please let me know so that
I can notify you when it moves).
Contents of FTP://acr.law.miami.edu/pub/..
File Type
--------------- ----------
clipper.asc ASCII
clipper.wp WP 5.1/Dos
clipperwp.zip Pkzipped version of clipper.wp
clipper.ps My best effort at Postscript. YMMV. (approx. 7Mb.)
clipperps.zip Pkzipped version of clipper.ps
clipper.ps.gz Gzipped version of clipper.ps
Ports provided by nice people (please note I have not checked these)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
clipper.ps.Z Unix compressed version of clipper.ps with carriage
returns removed -- courtesy of Whit Diffie
clipperMSW.sea.hqx Binhexed self-extracting Microsoft Word 5.1 for
Macintosh version of clipper.wp -- courtesy
of Ted Byfield
None of these files contains correct and final page numbers, and there are
generally trivial typos that were corrected in the printed version. The
printed version appears at 143 U.Penn.L.Rev. 709 (1995).
I intend to put up a web version presently. The .index file in the above
directory will have details when a clean copy is ready for prime time. A
link to an experimental and highly buggy HTMLized version may appear at
erratic intervals at http://acr.law.miami.edu at the very bottom of the
homepage.
A.Michael Froomkin | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)
Associate Professor of Law |
U.Miami Law School | MFROOMKI@UMIAMI.IR.MIAMI.EDU
PO Box 248087 |
Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA | It's warm here.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 95 13:18:13 EDT
From: "W. K. (Bill) Gorman" <34AEJ7D@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject: File 3--New Maillist battles Omnibus Terrorism Bill (fwd)
Obviously, CUD would be impacted by this legislation if enacted,
as would we all.
===========================
W. K. Gorman <bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu>
Copyright (C) 1995 by W. K. Gorman.
With explicit reservation of all rights, exclusively and without prejudice,
per UCC 1-207. Any commercial or for-profit use of all or any part of this
message, in any form, is expressly forbidden. Opinions are my own.
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Date--Fri, 28 Apr 1995 03:43:29 -0400
From--pc-man@netaxs.com (Howard L. Bloom)
Subject--New Maillist battles Omnibus Terrorism Bill/Join NOW!
The Omnibus Counterterrorism Bill was languishing in Congress before
The Oklahoma Bombing. It is now on the fast track and needs to be stopped
or at least changed drastically so that it does not infringe on our
rights as Citizens. A concise description of what this bill represents
follows the subscribe information to this list.
Please post information relevant to fighting or making this bill more
constitutional as this bill in both the house and senate makes a mockery
of the constituiton. This is a non-partison issue that has people on
the right, the left and the middle raising eyebrows. THIS IS NOT A
RIGHT WING ANGRY WHITE MALE ISSUE!
The listowner (me) is an Angry White Jewish Male who sees grave dangers
should it be voted on in its present state. This list is not going to be
a discussion list about whether the bill is good or bad, I think it is bad
and it is my list. So, if you think it is good, then feel free to join, but
do not inhibit or dilute the momentum of this list. I am a private
individual who pays for the list traffic on the webcom.com service.
If you would like to join you must decide whether you wish to join the
reflected list where each message sent creates a new message in your
mailbox, or the digest which lumps them all together for the day and
sends many messages in one email post.
To Join, send a message to one of the following addresses:
Tono-terrorism-bill-request@webcom.com (this is the refelected list)
Tono-terrorism-bill-digest-request@webcom.com (this is the digest)
Fromyou
Subject(please leave the subject blank)
-------------------------------------------------
in the body of the message put just one word, the word "subscribe"
You do not have to put your name or email address.
And now a description of the Terrorism Bill
Omnibus Counterterrorism Bill - S. 390 and H.R. 896
New FBI Charter To Investigate Political Groups
February 10, 1995 the Omnibus Counterterrorism Bill was
introduced as S. 390 into the Senate and as H.R. 896 in the
House. It was initiated by the FBI, and passed on by the Justice
Department and the White House. Senators Biden (D-DE) and Specter
(R-PA) initiated it in the Senate, Rep. Schumer (D-NY) and Dicks
(D-WA) in the House. It has bipartisan support and could get
expedited action.
Summary
* This is a general charter for the FBI and other agencies,
including the military, to investigate political groups and
causes at will. The bill is a wide-ranging federalization of
different kinds of actions applying to both citizens and
non-citizens. The range includes acts of violence (attempts,
threats and conspiracies) as well as giving funds for
humanitarian, legal activity.
* It would allow up to 10 year sentences for citizens and
deportation for permanent resident non-citizens for the "crime"
of supporting the lawful activities of an organization the
President declares to be "terrorist", as the African National
Congress, FMLN in El Salvador, IRA in Northern Ireland, and PLO
have been labelled. It broadens the definition of terrorism. The
President's determination of who is a terrorist is unappealable,
and specifically can include groups regardless of any legitimate
activity they might pursue.
* It authorizes secret trials for immigrants who are not charged
with a crime but rather who are accused of supporting lawful
activity by organizations which have also been accused of
committing illegal acts. Immigrants could be deported1) using
evidence they or their lawyers would never see; 2) in secret
proceedings; 3) with one sided appeals; 4) using illegally
obtained evidence.
* It suspends posse comitatus - allowing the use of the military
to aid the police regardless of other laws.
* It reverses the presumption of innocence - the accused is
presumed ineligible for bail and can be detained until trial.
* It loosens the rules for wiretaps. It would prohibit probation
as a punishment under the act - even for minor nonviolent
offenses.
Implications
* Those who remember the McCarran Walter Act will recognize this
bill, only in some ways this is broader and potentially more
dangerous.
* This bill is highly politicalthe President can determine who
is a terrorist and change his/her mind at will and even for
economic reasons. The breadth of its coverage would make it
impossible for the government to prosecute all assistance to
groups around the world that have made or threatened to commit
violent acts of any sort. Necessarily its choices would be
targeted at organizations the government found currently
offensive. People to be deported would be chosen specifically
because of their political associations and beliefs.
* The new federal crimeinternational terrorism doesn't cover
anything that is not already a crime. As the Center for National
Security Studies notes"Since the new offense does not cover
anything that is not already a crime, the main purpose of the
proposal seems to be to avoid certain constitutional and
statutory protections that would otherwise apply."
* While many provisions of this bill could well be found
unconstitutional after years of litigation, in the mean time the
damage could be enormous to the First Amendment and other
constitutional rights including presumption of innocence and
right to bail.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 08:14:50 -0700
From: Peter Miller <ptwnd@IGC.APC.ORG>
Subject: File 4--Ohio Job Opening
Job Posting -- Please Distribute:
================================
Ohio Community Computing Center Network Coordinator
The Ohio Community Computing Center Network (OCCCN) will be establishing
14 computer centers in low-income neighhborhoods in Cleveland, Columbus,
Dayton, Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, and Marietta. Funding for these
centers comes from the settlement of the Ameritech Alternative
Regulation case before the Ohio Public Utilities Commission. The OCCCN
seeks to hire a part-time Coordinator to assist these centers in
becoming operational and to provide ongoing support and coordination.
The OCCCN Coordinator will be based in Columbus and provide program and
technical assistance to each center, do outreach throughout the state,
and perform statewide administrative duties, under the direction of the
OCCCN Coordinating Committee, as follows:
1. Provide Ohio community computing centers with: