Internet Message

[Avery Todd]

List,

   This, as usual, is just ANOTHER hoax/legend. See info below for more
about the Frogs hoax.
   To read more about hoaxes in general go to:

http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa032598.htm

Avery

>______________________________ Forward Header
>Subject: Budwieser Frog Screen saver and other viruses
>Author:  Larry Hopkins at yca
>Date:    9/11/98 11:23 PM
>
>
>Dear YCA Family -
>
>Someone is sending out a screen-saver-the Budweiser Frogs.  But if
>you
>download
>it, you will lose everything!!!  Your hard drive will crash!!!
>DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!
>IT JUST WENT  INTO CIRCULATION YESTERDAY, AS FAR AS WE KNOW....
>BE CAREFUL. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE...
>
> If you download some jerk from the internet will also get your
>screen  name
>and
>password!
>
>Please send this to any names you can think of and remember never
>download BUDDYLST.ZIP  This is a new, very malicious virus and not many
>people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning
>from Microsoft. Please share it with everyone that might access the internet.
>
>Once again, pass this along to EVERYONE in your address book so that
>this may be stopped.
>
>Also do not open or even look at any mail that says "RETURNED OR
>UNABLE TO
>DELIVER". This virus will attach itself to your computer components
>and render
>them useless. Immediately delete any mail items that say this.  AOL
>has said
>that this is a very dangerous virus and that there NO remedy for it
>at this
>time.
>
>Please practice cautionary measures and forward this to all your on-
>line friends ASAP.


*************************************************************************
'Bud Frogs' - Screen Saver or Virus?

Dateline: 07/15/98

The Budweiser Frogs are still with us. Anheuser-Busch may have retired them
from its TV spots in favor of a pair of wise-cracking reptiles, but the
infamous animatronic croakers have survived digitally in the form of a
popular interactive screen saver and a persistent Internet virus hoax of
the same name.

Originally offered in 1996 as a free download from Budweiser.com, the Bud
Frogs Screen Saver was an instant hit - too big a hit for some people's
tastes, apparently, because in mid-1997 an anonymous Internet prankster
conceived the following hoax:

DANGER! VIRUS ALERT!
=====================

THIS IS A NEW TWIST. SOME CREEPOID SCAM-ARTIST IS SENDING OUT A VERY
DESIRABLE SCREEN-SAVER {{THE BUD FROGS}}. IF YOU DOWN-LOAD IT, YOU'LL LOSE
EVERYTHING!!!! YOUR HARD DRIVE WILL CRASH!!

DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!! IT WENT INTO CIRCULATION ON
13/05/97

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS WARNING TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE...

BELOW IS WHAT THE SCREENSAVER PROGGIE WOULD LOOK LIKE!

File: BUDSAVER.EXE (24643 bytes) DL Time (28800 bps):  1 minute


That was one of the earliest versions of the message. The form of it -
especially the manner in which the file name, size, and download time are
listed - suggests that the warning originated on America Online. It spread
rapidly across the Internet by email, showing up repeatedly on mailing
lists and Usenet newsgroups, only to be pooh-poohed by virus experts such
as those at DataFellows and the National Computer Security Association's
Virus Lab.

Various versions of the hoax are still circulating, one year later. One of
the more recent variants looks like this:

In a press conference early Friday, America Online and Compuserve President
Steve Case made an announcement about a NEW, very serious virus. This is a
new twist. Someone is sending out a very desirable screensaver, the
Budweiser Frogs said Case. But if you download it, you will lose
everything! Your hard drive WILL crash, and your computer will be useless.
DON'T
DOWNLOAD THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! It just went into circulation
recently, as far as we know. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS
POSSIBLE. AGAIN, DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING THAT LOOKS LIKE THE FOLLOWING...

File: BUDSAVER.EXE (24643 bytes)

Note the new additions to the text - a pseudo-journalistic writing style
and the claim that the warning was based on an announcement by Steve Case,
founder and CEO of America Online. Information Week published a denial by
AOL on June 17.

In most ways, the Bud Frogs alert is a typical virus hoax, with its request
to forward the message to "as many people as possible," the familiar
warning that the contents of your hard drive will be destroyed, and the
over-emphatic typography (I counted 12 exclamation points!!!!!!). It's more
believable than most, however, because the virus is said to reside in an
executable file rather than in the text of an email (the latter being
impossible). Note that the stated file size of the program is fairly small,
just 25K. A copy of the actual screen saver that I located on the Web and
downloaded (with no ill effects, I might add) weighed in at 860K.

I should also report that a usually-reliable source recently informed me
that there is a real password-stealing program being passed around AOL
with a similar file name - "budfrogs.exe" or "budfrogs.shs." I haven't
been able to confirm that information elsewhere, but it bears repeating
that it's always a risky business to download and execute email attachments
from people you don't know.

                              Further reading:

IBM Hype Alert
IBM's Antivirus Online experts debunk the Bud Frogs alert.
Net Links: Computer Virus Hoaxes
Pointers to the best virus hoax information available on the Net.