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Educate new employees about virus hoaxes the easy way

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A reporter called me (well, a lot of reporters called!) on March 6, 1992 when I proved -- shall we say, I proved "far more correct" than John McAfee about the Michelangelo virus. Out of the entire bunch who phoned me, this one reporter asked if I thought another scare of this caliber would happen in the future.

Another prediction

A new myth on the horizon

You think the "Good Times" urban legend is big? Wait until January 1, 2000 ... that's when you'll hear about the dreaded "Millennium" virus. People will blame this mythical beast for all sorts of software problems. In reality, many applications will simply fail to work when the computer's internal clock reaches the year 2000. But sadly, many people will react by claiming they contracted a lethal virus which triggered on the millennium. I predict the upcoming "Millennium" virus myth will dwarf the current "Good Times" virus hoax.

I said yes. I've long held the mainstream media in contempt for the way it handles computer virus stories. (Even the computer-industry media needed some time in the beginning to get its act together.) The press has a short attention span and as such it often forgives sins committed by <ahem> "telegenic" personalities. And the continuing influx of new computer users eventually would provide the fuel for another raging forest fire.

So I made a prediction to the reporter. I claimed a major computer virus scare would rise again in the 10/94 - 3/96 timeframe.

I REMEMBERED THIS prediction while going over my notes about the Michelangelo fiasco.

And then I thought to myself, "hey! Good Times!"

Think about it. Internet and LANs all over the world have a major crisis on their hands. They've all got to delete messages with GT in the subject line, lest users fall prey to the mythical GT virus. I get regular calls from Air Force units: "hey, where can we find some software to combat this virus?"

The media has largely ignored GT. (I'll betcha they probably wound up doing the right thing for the wrong reason. But I digress.) Some notable exceptions do exist -- the Chicago Tribune ran a front-page headline (!) dismissing GT as a myth, for example. But the prevalence of LAN email, combined with the popularity of online networks, has clearly made up for the media's lack of attention

I DIDN'T PREDICT a mythical-virus scare -- but I did predict a virus scare. Do you think my prediction came true? Let me know your thoughts.

The Hare virus scare of 1996

As of 1 September 1996, I make these predictions for the next two major fiascos:

1. January 1, 2000 (a user-driven fiasco) -- people will blame the mythical "millennium" virus to explain why so many software packages suddenly started behaving oddly or just stopped working altogether.
2. In the year 2001 (a media-driven fiasco) -- enough new reporters will enter the scene and many millions more people will begin using computers. These people don't use computers yet and thus won't remember Columbus 1989, Michelangelo 1992, or Hare 1996. News reports will open with the following statement: "The 'millennium' virus was just a myth. But the new [insert name here] virus is for real and will cause worldwide havoc when it activates on..."

Millennium virus myth already spreading!

Pizzo's story includes a hotlink on the phrase "Millennium Virus." It leads to an earlier online story by Vance McCarthy, titled 'Keep the Millennium Virus Off Your Net.'

And just so you understand the incredible scope of the problem, PC/Computing's 1/97 issue warns of economic catastrophe -- a full-blown Depression -- in three years: "The Gartner Group estimates that [the 'year 2000'] problem could cost U.S. business as much as $240 billion dollars. As a result of the huge price tag, it's possible that as many as 10 percent of all businesses won't survive the transition."

"I'm predicting that the world will end in the year 2000. The Creator of the universe works in mysterious ways, but He uses a base ten counting system and likes round numbers."
-- Dogbert, the Doomsday Prophet

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