On Mon, 5 Dec 1994 11:11:36 -0500 Joan Korenman <KORENMAN@UMBC> wrote: > I've always been told that viruses are not transmitted via E-mail messages, > but rather through executable files that one downloads via FTP, > or transfers from a floppy disk. Is that incorrect? That's not the *only* method of "infection". > Can a normal text message communicate a virus via E-mail? Yes. If you read the rest of this reply, and thus display the next line on a (vintage 1975) Tektronix 4025 terminal !LEARN 13 /logoff/ 13 then, the next time you press the RETURN key on the keyboard, the string 'logoff', followed by a carriage-return, will be sent to the host. Admittedly, this is a non-harmful virus, and it's specific to one class of one manufacturer's terminals, but this is a proof-of-concept example.