[Hallicrafters] VERY dangerous Computer virus ALERT

[Mike Everette]

The computer at my workplace got hosed by a virus Thursday afternoon.  Beware, this may happen to you.

This virus made it through one of the tightest law enforcement/government security firewalls in existence.

This may apply especially to Internet Explorer users; but who knows if another flavor of it may be threatening Mozilla or other systems.

If you see a "block" pop up with "Microsoft Internet Explorer" in the blue header bar (complete with IE logo), with the message (paraphrased) "Microsoft Internet Explorer has detected a threat of possible spyware" and states that you should click on it to check or confirm the threat, DO NOT OPEN OR RUN IT!  This is BOGUS, and it will seriously corrupt your operating system and maybe even your data.

I made the mistake of clicking "Run" -- after all, it looked perfectly legitimate -- and the results were disastrous.

If you see this, "X" it out IMMEDIATELY!

WARNING -- It might not let you "X" it out.  If you see it, hit "CNTRL-ALT-DELETE" and SHUT DOWN.

According to our tech support team, it's possible that, once this virus pops up, your system might not respond to "CNTL-ALT-DELETE."

If the computer will not shut down, PULL THE POWER OFF, no matter what!

If you have been receiving another message, a gray block screen that says "Microsoft Internet Explorer has detected a problem and needs to close," this MIGHT be a precursor to this happening to you.  I had gotten such messages several times a week, even a couple of times a day, for over a month and a half prior to this incident.  This may be an indication that the virus is already lurking in your system.  I'm still waiting for our tech support team to make a determination on this.  One of my colleagues has also been seeing the "needs to close" messages.

Pass this on; give everyone you know a heads-up.

73

Mike
WA4DLF