Goodtimes virus

Warnings about a computer virus named Goodtimes began being passed around among Internet users in 1994. The Goodtimes virus was supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header Goodtimes, hence the virus s name, and the warning recommended deleting any such email unread.

The Goodtimes Virus warning was a hoax, however; there was never any such virus, and indeed at the time when the warning first appeared it was not technically feasible to write a virus that could transmit itself automatically via email. At least, not a virus that depended solely upon the computer for transmissionthe Goodtimes virus warning was itself viral, in a sense; it urged the recipient to forward copies of itself to all of his or her acquaintances, preying upon vulnerabilities in the human psyche to replicate itself. Some email servers were actually crashed by the sheer volume of Goodtimes virus warnings being forwarded by users throughout 1995.

Some people who were familiar with the hoax also forwarded the e-mail, followed immediately by an empty e-mail with the Goodtimes subject header to fool people further.

Developments in mail systems (without sufficient thought as to the security implications) made viruses that indeed propagate themselves via email possible. Notable examples include the Melissa worm and the Anna Kournikova virus. Furthermore, even viruses propagating entirely without the use of email have been created, such as the Blaster worm.

The Goodtimes virus even spawned a humorous parody, the Bad times virus.