BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. READ AND HEED.

[SeeSalt]

"I just verified this with Snopes and it is REAL.

PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE

Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it!

If you get an email along the lines of "Osama Bin Laden Captured"

or "Osama Hanged" don't open the attachment.

This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe, but mainly in the US and Israel.

Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:

You should be alert during the next days: Do not open any message with an attached file called "Invitation" regardless of who sent it.

It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer.

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts.

It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately.

This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus.

This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW "

[SeeSalt]

I got that in my email. It comes for a good friend of mine.

[Red Badger]

I don't open e-mails with attachments..........

[WoofDog123]

folks who open pics in their email are just begging for virus/trojan problems.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

If you'd actually checked with Snopes, you would see that this is an OUTDATED warning......

[Izzy Dunne]

It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer.

I don't even HAVE a drive "C" on my computer.

[ASA Vet]

[AppyPappy]

Did you read what Snopes said about it?

[Izzy Dunne]

You didn't verify this with snopes.

Try this.

[metmom]

I don't know how many of you feel this would fit your ping lists but here it is FYI.

[Izzy Dunne]

Subj: VIRUS ALERT	Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE

	Warning: There's a new virus on the loose that's worse than
	anything I've seen before! It gets in through the power line,
	riding on the powerline 60 Hz subcarrier. It works by changing the
	serial port pinouts, and by reversing the direction one's disks
	spin. Over 300,000 systems have been hit by it here in Murphy,
	West Dakota alone! And that's just in the last 12 minutes.

	It attacks DOS, Unix, TOPS-20, Apple-II, VMS, MVS, Multics, Mac,
	RSX-11, ITS, TRS-80, and VHS systems.

	To prevent the spresd of the worm:

	1) Don't use the powerline.
	2) Don't use batteries either, since there are rumors that this
	  virus has invaded most major battery plants and is infecting the
	  positive poles of the batteries. (You might try hooking up just
	  the negative pole.)
	3) Don't upload or download files.
	4) Don't store files on floppy disks or hard disks.
	5) Don't read messages. Not even this one!
	6) Don't use serial ports, modems, or phone lines.
	7) Don't use keyboards, screens, or printers.
	8) Don't use switches, CPUs, memories, microprocessors, or
	  mainframes.
	9) Don't use electric lights, electric or gas heat or
	  airconditioning, running water, writing, fire, clothing or the
	  wheel.

	I'm sure if we are all careful to follow these 9 easy steps, this
	virus can be eradicated, and the precious electronic flui9ds of
	our computers can be kept pure.

[timsbella]

THIS is the one to worry about(unless you have an Apple, like me):

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Computer virus writers started to use raging European storms on Friday to attack thousands of computers in an unusual real-time assault, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure (FSC1V.HE: Quote, Profile , Research) told Reuters.

The virus, which the company named "Storm Worm" is sent to hundreds of thousands of email addresses globally, with the e-mail's subject line saying "230 dead as storm batters Europe."

The attached file contains the so-called malware that can infiltrate computer systems.

"What makes this exceptional is the timely nature of the attack," Mikko Hypponen, head of research at F-Secure said.

Hypponen said thousands of computers around the world, most in private use, had been affected.

He said most users would not notice the malware, or trojan, which creates a back door to the computer that can be exploited later to steal data or to use the computer to post spam.

[TexasRepublic]

Neither Snopes nor McAfee support your claim -- I just checked both as you should have. Do your homework next time before shouting that the sky is falling.

[sionnsar]

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/osama.asp: Real, but outdated.

[VRWCmember]

From the Snopes item:

Virus:   "Osama bin Laden Captured" and "Osama bin Laden Hanged"

Status:   Real, but outdated.

In July 2004 a message claiming to offer links to photographs of Osama Bin Laden's suicide was spammed to multiple newsgroups. The links actually tricked users into opening a file that installed the Backdoor.Hacarmy.D trojan horse.

In June 2005, similarly-themed e-mail message claimed to offer images of the capture and arrest of Osama bin Laden scanned from news videos and collected in an attached ZIP file, but the attachment actually harbored a version of the Psyme Trojan.

Both trojans were easily detected and removed with updated virus protection software, and neither Osama message is circulating widely or poses much of a threat to PC users any more.

Last updated:   1 August 2006

==== END OF SNOPES EXCERPT (Emphasis added) ====

Unless you haven't updated your anti-virus software in over 18 months, you probably don't have anything to worry about.