The "Life is Beautiful" e-mail hoax claims a new virus will wipe the hard drives of anyone who triggers it while its cyber-terrorist author goes on to fight Microsoft in court. The e-mail alleges the virus is contained in a PowerPoint presentation, but while such files can contain viruses, this online threat is bogus.
Captured 12/13/2002
Be Careful - Importance: High
Be Careful especially if using Internet mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail and so on. This information arrived this morning, from Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet.
You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power Point presentation called "Life is beautiful. PPS" If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and delete it immediately.
If you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: "It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful", subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, e-mail and password.
This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon.
WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS VIRUS: AOL has already confirmed its dangerousness, and the Anti-virus software are not capable of destroying it. The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself "life owner", and who aims to destroy domestic PCs and who also fights Microsoft in court! That's why it comes disguised with extension PPS.
He fights in court for the Windows-XP patent.
MAKE A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS
Virus hoaxes are the easiest net scams to debunk -- all it takes is a quick visit to Symantec.com (makers of Norton Anti-Virus) or McAfee.com to learn if a virus is real or not. Even without a visit to these anti-virus experts though, we can see some tell-tail signs that this is a hoax.
First, it encourages people to forward its message to everyone they know. While a few legitimate warnings have done this, 9 times out of 10, any message asking you to send it to "all of your friends" is bogus. Second, a virus like this -- written by an cracker-turned-activist who unleashed it while fighting a court case against Microsoft -- would be incredibly newsworthy. That, coupled with an infection rate that rivaled real viruses/worms like ILOVEYOU or Klez, would guarantee it a spot in evening news casts (or at least on Web sites like CNN.com) ... and that hasn't happened.
While the e-mail itself is bogus, it does at least serve a reminder that you shouldn't open e-mail attachments that you aren't expecting, be they from a friend or a stranger, unless you're sure it's clean of viruses.
You can learn more about this hoax by visiting these Web sites: