techTALK

Chain mail is generally abhorred by system administrators all over. The messages usually demand that once read, they be passed to at least 10 people or else the reader will suffer bad luck. While it appears that most people disregard these silly threats, a new form of chain mail is snaking its way across the Internet, and it is more troublesome because it strikes a chord of either fear or sympathy in the hearts of its readers.

By now most people who have been using e-mail for a while are familiar with warnings of "e-mail viruses." Unfortunately, judging from the number of warnings I still receive, most people are not familiar with the best way to deal with these messages: delete them.

Their titles range from the by now infamous "Good Times" virus to the most recent threat to grace my inbox, dubbed "Deeyenda." Warnings about these and other e-mail viruses claim that they will "rewrite your hard drive" and "search on your computer, looking for valuable information, such as e-mail and login passwords." According to these warning messages, all you need to do is read the message and you're a goner. Well, this simply is not true.

Computer viruses require a host which is an executable file that must be run in order for the virus to do any damage. A simple text e-mail message is not an executable file, and therefore, cannot contain a virus.

You can contract a virus, however, by executing a file that comes attached to an e-mail message, but that is not what any of these warnings claim, and it is not what has caused paranoia across the Internet for years.

What has concerned me even more than virus hoaxes, however, is the proliferation of e-mail dealing with various "good" causes. With increasing regularity over the past few years I have been asked to raise money for school books, save Sesame Street and battle cancer--all through e-mail.

But, as well-intentioned as these solicitations may be, they are usually false and continue to circulate widely long after their origin, sucking up valuable bandwidth across the Internet.

Twice in the past week, I received an entreaty to make the wish of little Jessica Mydek, supposedly a child with terminal cancer, come true. All I had to do was forward the electronic message to as many people as I knew. Further, the message claimed that the American Cancer Society (ACS) and other corporations would donate three cents to continuing cancer research for every person who received the message. People with questions were encouraged to e-mail the ACS.

Feeling a little wary of the message's validity, I went to the ACS homepage, and in a matter of minutes found that they had nothing to do with this and were not donating any money based on the spread of an e-mail message. A moment's reflection would reveal that the ACS would have no way of knowing how many people received the message, and so, would not know how much money to "donate." Again, a message that was supposedly sent to help people ends up hurting them, for now someone at the ACS may have to respond to masses of inquiries about actions the organization is not taking.

Whether these e-mail messages assert the existence of a mythical, super-destructive virus or falsely claim they will save lives by being spread, they are wasteful and can be costly both to their readers and to those they attempt to help. The message regarding Jessica Mydek claimed the girl wanted this chain letter to "send people the message to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment."

Ironically, more and more of these moments are being wasted by irresponsible handling of e-mail.

Baratunde R. Thurston '99 is the Claverly Hall User Assistant for HASCS, a member of the Harvard Computer Society and a Crimson editor.