Microsoft Says an Unnamed Virus Can, and Probably
Will, Destroy Most Internet Computers–Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
This email claims to include Microsoft Security Bulletin “MS01-039” and warns that a virus that has not yet been assigned a name has been released on the Internet and has the ability to “destroy data like none seen before.” It also claims that computers with the virus can infect others by being programmed to scan the Internet to find them. It quotes someone as saying that the virus can wipe out most Internet users, and chances are it will.
The Truth:
This is a hoax. No such warning has been issued by Microsoft and, as of this writing, Microsoft Security Bulletin “MS01-039” does not yet exist. The content and style of the eRumor betray it as fiction. For example, viruses do not infect the Internet in nameless form and wait for Microsoft or anyone else to give them an identity. Their names come from words or filenames in or attached to the viruses themselves.