Good Times

Probably the most successful virus hoax of all time, Good Times has been scaring people since 1994. It's still going strong, despite the fact that it is completely untrue; there is no such virus, and indeed it is impossible for a virus to do what is claimed for Good Times.

The hoax started off simply: it warned people not to read or download any email with the subject of "Good Times", because the messages were viral and would erase their hard drives. Later, more detail was added, telling of the damage that would be done to the user's computer system.

The end of the spoof warning contained an exhortation to "Forward this to all your friends. It may help them a lot." pass the message on to everyone the recipient knew. In their thousands, people did, and still do.

The secret to the success of the hoax is that it successfully taps into computer users' fears about computers, security and the Internet, and contains pseudo-technical babble that sounds convincing.

There are a large number of variants including 'Penpal Greetings'.

Many virus hoaxes:

• falsely claim to describe an extremely dangerous virus
• use pseudo-technical language to make impressive-sounding (but impossible) claims
• falsely claim that the report was issued or confirmed by a well-known company
• ask you to forward it to all your friends and colleagues

As usual, you are urged not to pass on warnings of this kind, as the continued re-forwarding of these hoaxes simply wastes time and email bandwidth.

It is possible that you may receive a hoax via email with a file attached. Obviously, such file attachments should be treated with caution as they may be virus infected. Sophos recommends deleting virus hoax emails, whether they contain file attachments or not.

Sophos suggests a policy to help prevent hoaxes from spreading in your company.