re : a * real * virus alert ( fwd ) fyi about what looks like the real thing this time . cherilyn : ) - - - - - - - - - - forwarded message - - - - - - - - - - date tue , 6 jun 1995 09 : 43 : 50 - 0400 > from notes . wmyer @ a50vm1 . trg . nynex . com to : revwar @ unh . edu subject re : a * real * virus alert what is pkzip ? pkzip is the most common way of compressing computer files so they take up less room on a hard disk or less time to transmit over a data communications link . many people have , and use , this family of shareware products . pkware 's current legitimate version of pkzip is 2 . 04g . this , and earlier versions may be assumed to be safe . how is a trojan horse different than a virus ? the bogus pkzip products are files with pkz300 or pkz300b with either a . zip or . exe suffix . unlike a virus , these programs do not replicate themselves nor " infect " anything . they do their damage to that one pc that runs the trojan - horsed bogus program . it cannot spread , unless a person gives out a copy of the bogus program . . what happens if you use this bogus version of pkzip ? the unwary victim downloads the file from a bbs run by less than through operators . if the victim runs the . exe form of the bogus program , it erases the hard disk immediately . if the . zip form is downloaded and " unzipped " , the pkzip & pkunzip . exe programs will erase the hard disk when executed . special note to notes / lan admins : if a lan - attached pc were to run this trojan - horse type program , it would be safe to assume all the lan accessible files that can be deleted with the privileges of the logged-on user , will be at risk . note : no anti-virus packages guard against trojan horses . antivirus mechanisms guard against the pc & the pc operating system from being fooled . trojan horses fool the pc user . what you must do : inform all your technically astute pc users about this trojan horse , bogus pkzip version . tell them to beware . do not download or use any pkzip type programs from any bbs . until this situation wanes , all pkzip products brought into a pc are suspect . i have the honour and privilege to remain yr humble svt , walter h myer , major brigade adjutant brigade of the american revolution