dmcanzi@watserv1.waterloo.edu (David Canzi) (12/21/89)
[These have been delayed because I was out of town, and without access
to Usenet.]
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! Health Info-Com Network !
! Newsletter !
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Editor: David Dodell, D.M.D.
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
10250 North 92nd Street, Suite 210, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258-4599 USA
Copyright 1989 - Distribution on Commercial/Pay Systems Prohibited without
Prior Authorization
Volume 2, Number 45 December 4, 1989
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Medical News
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Medical News for Week Ending December 3, 1989
Copyright 1989: USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
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Nov. 28, 1989
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CONFLICTING AIDS REPORTS:
Healthy men infected with the AIDS virus have normal brain function. That
contradicts a 1987 University of California, Berkeley, study. The new
research, by scientists at Johns Hopkins and Northwestern universities, finds
extremely low levels of brain malfunction, and only one case of mild dementia.
(From the USA TODAY Life section.)
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Volume 2, Number 46 December 11, 1989
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Medical News
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Medical News for week ending December 10, 1989
Copyright 1989: USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
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Dec. 7, 1989
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AIDS COMMISSION PRESENTS REPORT:
Turning in its report to President Bush eight months early, the National
Commission on AIDS Wednesday emphasized the USA's failure to deal with the
AIDS crisis. The panel said early intervention and access to care are needed.
The commission's "pro-active stance" was hailed by AIDS groups; they urged the
Bush administration to respond.
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Dec. 8-10, 1989
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STUDY GIVES HOPE FOR AIDS:
A study in which a vaccine prevented an AIDS-like disease in monkeys is the
strongest evidence yet that an AIDS vaccine might work. A team at Tulane
University, New Orleans, inoculated nine monkeys with chemically inactivated
SIV - the simian immunodeficiency virus, which resembles the human
immunodeficiency virus. Eight monkeys didn't get well; one did recovered.
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Volume 2, Number 47 December 17, 1989
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Comments & News from the Editor
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Warning - Watch out for AIDS Virus ... on Computer Disk !
As many of your are aware, there is a computer virus being distributed in the
form of a disk labeled that it contains AIDS Information. Here is the
information I received:
This is an urgent forward from John McAfee:
A distribution diskette from a corporation calling itself PC Cyborg has
been widely distributed to major corporations and PC user groups around the
world and the diskette contains a highly destructive trojan. The Chase
Manhattan Bank and ICL Computers were the first to report problems with the
software. All systems that ran the enclosed programs had all data on the hard
disks destroyed. Hundreds of systems were affected. Other reports have come
in from user groups, small businesses and individuals with similar problems.
The professionally prepared documentation that comes with the diskette
purports that the software provides a data base of AIDS information. The
flyer heading reads - "AIDS Information - An Introductory Diskette". The
license agreement on the back of the same flyer reads:
"In case of breach of license, PC Cyborg Corporation reserves the right to use
program mechanisms to ensure termination of the use of these programs. These
program mechanisms will adversely affect other program applications on
microcomputers. You are hereby advised of the most serious consequences of
your failure to abide by the terms of this license agreement."
Further in the license is the sentence: "Warning: Do not use these programs
unless you are prepared to pay for them".
If the software is installed using the included INSTALL program, the first
thing that the program does is print out an invoice for the software. Then,
whenever the system is re-booted, or powered down and then re-booted from the
hard disk, the system self destructs.
Whoever has perpetrated this monstrosity has gone to a great deal of time, and
more expense, and they have clearly perpetrated the largest single targeting
of destructive code yet reported. The mailings are professionally done, and
the style of the mailing labels indicate the lists were purchased from
professional mailing organizations. The estimated costs for printing,
diskette, label and mailing is over $3.00 per package. The volume of reports
imply that many thousands may have been mailed. In addition, the British
magazine "PC Business World" has included a copy of the diskette with its most
recent publication - - another expensive avenue of distribution. The only
indication of who the perpetrator(s) may be is the address on the invoice to
which they ask that $378.00 be mailed:
PC Cyborg Corporation
P.O. Box 871744
Panama 7, Panama
Needless to say, a check for a registered PC Cyborg Corporation in Panama
turned up negative.
An additional note of interest in the license section reads: "PC Cyborg
Corporation does not authorize you to distribute or use these programs in the
United States of America. If you have any doubt about your willingness or
ability to meet the terms of this license agreement or if you are not prepared
to pay all amounts due to PC Cyborg Corporation, then do not use these
programs".
John McAfee
Early reports from people who have disassembled the AIDS trojan that
has been mailed to numerous European corporations indicate that the trojan may
be encrypting information on the disk rather than destroying it outright. The
results are the same without a decrypting routine but the possibility is] now
raised that the perpetrators do have and may offer such a decryptor. The
report from Chase Manhattan Bank that the name and address in the Trojan are
bogus may not be correct. John Markoff of the New York Times has since stated
that his sources found a real corporation corresponding to the name and
address in the file. This raises some interesting questions which, I believe,
only time will answer. Whatever is happening, this much is known: The trojan
will make all data on the hard disk unusable; the change happens suddenly; and
no recovery is yet known. If you find or have a copy of this diskette don't
use it.
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Medical News
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Medical News for week ending December 17, 1989
Copyright 1989: USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
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Dec. 11, 1989
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HOME CARE REDUCES AIDS COSTS:
Home health care could reduce the cost of AIDS care by 75 percent compared
with hospitalization, reports experts at a national AIDS care conference held
Friday in Atlanta. Cited: Examples of patients whose hospital costs were up to
$2,500 per day who where transferred, with comparable care, to their homes at
$400 per day.
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Dec. 12, 1989
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AIDS WAS THE MAJOR STORY:
A majority of health and science reporters nationwide cite AIDS as the
dominant health care story of the 1980s, reports The Wirthlin Group and Hill
and Knowlton Inc. Those surveyed believe AIDS will continue to dominate health
news in the 1990s. Other top story: Health care insurance and its cost.
AIDS COVERAGE HAD TWO SIDES:
Many health reporters see their AIDS reporting as a two-edged sword,
reports surveyers The Wirthlin Group and Hill and Knowlton Inc. Why: It
increased understanding of the disease and motivated change in behavior in
high-risk groups but it also increased public prejudice toward high-risk
groups.
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Dec. 14, 1989
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LITTLE VIRUS GOES A LONG WAY:
A study concludes that just one pint of blood from an individual with AIDS
contains enough virus to cause about 2 million AIDS infections, reports New
England Journal of Medicine's Dec. 14 issue. Doctors say this explains why
people who accidently receive AIDS-tainted transfusions almost always catch
the virus. (From the USA TODAY Life section.)
AIDS VIRUS RISES IN VICTIMS:
The level of the AIDS virus rises as patients get sicker, reports a study
in the New England Journal of Medicine Dec. 14 issue. Conclusion: The study
should dispel doubts that human immunodeficiency virus is the true culprit in
AIDS. (From the USA TODAY Life section.)
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Dec. 15-17, 1989
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BEWARE OF DISK WITH VIRUS:
A computer disk on AIDS information contains a "virus" that is destroying
information on some personal computers, new reports said. The warning is being
sent especially to banks and hospitals, universities and researchers whose
work on AIDS research might be destroyed by this database. About 10,000 copies
of the "Aids Information-An Introductory diskette" were sent worldwide.
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+------------------------------------------------+
! !
! Health Info-Com Network !
! Newsletter !
+------------------------------------------------+
Editor: David Dodell, D.M.D.
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
10250 North 92nd Street, Suite 210, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258-4599 USA
Telephone (602) 860-1121
FAX Available - Call/Write/Email for Additional Information
Copyright 1989 - Distribution on Commercial/Pay Systems Prohibited without
Prior Authorization
International Distribution Coordinator: Robert Klotz
Nova Research Institute
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Telephone (405) 366-3898
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David Canzi