Michael Martinez :verified: on Nostr: 20 years ago this month my personal computer was flooded with up to 3,000 ...
20 years ago this month my personal computer was flooded with up to 3,000 virus-infected emails per hour. My partner Dixie helped me find the fix for it and get it installed on my computer. But I was forced to change my email address because there was no way I could notify 1,000s of people their PCs had become infected (no need, really, as they would have seen the same annoying dialog box I did).
A few days later at work one of our accountants called me into his office. He had the Sobig.F dialog on his screen. I immediately pulled the ethernet cable out of the back of his machine, hoping I could prevent it from infecting the rest of the office network.
I walked down the hallway to report the incident to my boss's boss, thinking we would have to take preventive measures. Before I could explain what was going on, her assistant came out of HER office and said, "Michael, there's a funny box on my screen --"
At which point I leaped past the person behind me, ran to my desk, and grabbed my phone. I yelled into the PA system, "Everyone with a PC log off and shut down! Everyone with a PC log off and shut down!"
The manager of the production line called me in a panic. "Does that include me?" he asked.
"No," I said. "You're okay." At the time, our production machines were air-gapped and couldn't receive emails.
It took a couple of hours to get all the office PCs updated to guard against the virus. Only 5 machines were infected.
Meanwhile, the other 4 plants all went offline, as did our parent company and all their other subsidiaries. Mine was the only location that was able to continue working normally that day.
And that was only because so many people at the time had gotten my personal email address (mostly from being on mailing lists I was subscribed to).
I remember calling the parent company's cyberteam to report the incident. "Yeah, I know," the guy said on the other line. "I'm watching it spread across the network as we talk."
"Isn't there anything you can do to stop this?" I asked. I figured he could notify all the plants to disconnect from the network.
"No," he replied. "I'm powerless. We just have to let it play out and repair the damage later."
A few days later at work one of our accountants called me into his office. He had the Sobig.F dialog on his screen. I immediately pulled the ethernet cable out of the back of his machine, hoping I could prevent it from infecting the rest of the office network.
I walked down the hallway to report the incident to my boss's boss, thinking we would have to take preventive measures. Before I could explain what was going on, her assistant came out of HER office and said, "Michael, there's a funny box on my screen --"
At which point I leaped past the person behind me, ran to my desk, and grabbed my phone. I yelled into the PA system, "Everyone with a PC log off and shut down! Everyone with a PC log off and shut down!"
The manager of the production line called me in a panic. "Does that include me?" he asked.
"No," I said. "You're okay." At the time, our production machines were air-gapped and couldn't receive emails.
It took a couple of hours to get all the office PCs updated to guard against the virus. Only 5 machines were infected.
Meanwhile, the other 4 plants all went offline, as did our parent company and all their other subsidiaries. Mine was the only location that was able to continue working normally that day.
And that was only because so many people at the time had gotten my personal email address (mostly from being on mailing lists I was subscribed to).
I remember calling the parent company's cyberteam to report the incident. "Yeah, I know," the guy said on the other line. "I'm watching it spread across the network as we talk."
"Isn't there anything you can do to stop this?" I asked. I figured he could notify all the plants to disconnect from the network.
"No," he replied. "I'm powerless. We just have to let it play out and repair the damage later."