Folks, some of you (you know who you are) are getting this just to know
what I'm up to.  For the rest...

For those lists where this is grossly off-topic, I humbly apologize.  In
fact it's grossly off-topic on all these lists, but some of them are having
a good bit of trouble with this, and I hope the others will be able to
avoid it.

I'm talking about a recent virus/worm/Trojan program known technically as
W95.hybris.gen, also as Snowhite [sic].  It tends to arrive in an email
addressed from [saving your reverence] <hahaha@sexyfun.net>.  *This Address
Is A Fake.*

I have become rather concerned about this one over the last several weeks;
I'm right now engaged in trying to help several people around the country
recover from it; I've received at least a dozen copies during this time.

It has been around since 25 September, and it has an astonishing technical
ability to adapt itself which in my humble opinion makes it exceedingly
dangerous, even though it has not created *much* actual damage to date.  I
say much -- I know of at least two instances where people's systems have
been quickly rendered unusable, and more where the infection has been
difficult to eradicate.  It is technically by far the most advanced such
program yet written, and its comparatively benign behavior until now is no
indicator of its potential.  It also appears to have advanced methods of
discovering addresses to send itself to, and may make a concerted effort to
prevent itself being removed from an infected system.

A dedicated computer professional has purchased the domain name
(sexyfun.net) where the email allegedly originates from, and has set up a
website there at http://www.sexyfun.net/ in order to help people recover
from this virus, and to avoid infection, and, he hopes, to eradicate it
from the planet.  He (she?) is of the opinion (which I share) that it is
important for us all to cooperate if we don't want this to be around for a
very long time.  Happy99 lasted a year, and technically it was a
firecracker to W95.hybris.gen's ICBM.  I won't waste any more time
describing W95.hybris.gen because the website has or has links to pretty
much everything that is known about the beast.

I urge you to visit the site, plan on spending an hour or more learning
about it, protect yourselves sensibly, and assist others in any way
possible.  As our beloved Coast Guard puts it "Mariners are requested to
maintain a sharp lookout, render assistance as needed, and report all
sightings to the nearest Coast Guard unit."

I will do whatever I can to help anyone understand and use the information
available at www.sexyfun.net/ (which continues to be updated as more
information becomes available about the program).

Thanks for your attention, and please think about this carefully.
Best Regards,
David Beierl
401 274-5827 East Coast -- 8am to midnight ok.

David Beierl - dbeierl@attglobal.net