Antichrist (virus hoax)
Encyclopedia
"Antichrist", or Anticristo, was a Spanish-language computer virus hoax
distributed via email
in 2001.
on July 17, 2001. The Spanish text of the email translates to
Virus hoax
A computer virus hoax is a message warning the recipient of a non-existent computer virus threat. The message is usually a chain e-mail that tells the recipient to forward it to everyone they know.-Identification:...
distributed via email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
in 2001.
Email contents
The email was detected by SymantecSymantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
on July 17, 2001. The Spanish text of the email translates to
- ALERT: THE WORST VIRUS IN HISTORY.
- A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and McafeeMcAfeeMcAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
as the most destructive of all time. This virus was discovered yesterday and is known by the name of ANTICHRIST; no antivirusAntivirus softwareAntivirus or anti-virus software is used to prevent, detect, and remove malware, including but not limited to computer viruses, computer worm, trojan horses, spyware and adware...
has been discovered; it simply destroys the zeroth sectorDisk sectorIn computer disk storage, a sector is a subdivision of a track on a magnetic disk or optical disc. Each sector stores a fixed amount of user data. Traditional formatting of these storage media provides space for 512 bytes or 2048 bytes of user-accessible data per sector...
of the hard disk, where vital information for its operation is kept. - It works in the following way:
- 1. -) It sends itself to all the names in your address book with the title:
- "SURPRISE?!!!!!!!!!!"
- 2. -) As soon as it is installed, it destroys the zeroth sector and in this way it permanently destroys the hard disk. Please send this E-mail to as many people as you can; in case you receive an e-mail with subject "SURPRISE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", get advice from an expert because it can install itself automatically.