The virus warning sent to the list on Thu, 13 Mar by Bob Brown is a
well-known hoax. Here is a note on it from the Urban Legends website:

Virus name: JDBGMGR.EXE.
Status: Hoax.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]


I got this message about a virus that can produce lot of dammage [sic] to
your computer. If you follow the instructions which are very easy, you
would be able to "clean" your computer.
Apparently the virus spreads through the adresses book . I got it, then
may be I passed it to you too, sorry.

The name of the virus is jdbgmgr.exe and is transmitted automatically
through the Messanger and addresses book of the OUTLOOK. The virus is
neither detected by Norton nor by Mc Afee. It remains in lethargy
("sleeping") for 14 days and even more, before it destroys the whole
system. It can be eliminated during this period.

The steps for the elimination of the virus are the following:

1. go to START and click FIND

2. in "FILES andFOLDERS" write: jdbgmgr.exe

3. be sure that it searches in "C"

4. click SEARCH NOW

5. if the virus appears (with icon of a small bear) and the
name"jdbgmgr.exe" . don't open it !!! in any case !!!

6. click the right button of the mouse and destroy it

7. emty the recyclage bin

If you find the virus in your computer please send this mail to all the
people in your addresses book .

thanks.




Origins: Like the SULFNBK.EXE hoax, this bogus virus warning (also known
as the "Bear Virus") attempts to lure gullible users into deleting
perfectly innocuous, standard Windows files from their systems.

In this case the target file is JDBGMGR.EXE, a Java Debug Manager
program used by the Microsoft Java runtime engine. This file is included
as part of a standard Windows installation and is not a "virus." (The icon
for this file is a graphic of a bear like the one shown to the left.)

If you deleted this file, don't sweat it -- JDBGMGR.EXE is only important
to programmers who use Microsoft Visual J++ 1.1 to develop Java programs.
Its absence will not cause your PC to stop working or interfere with your
applications, so if you're not a Java developer, you don't have to worry
about restoring it. Consider the experience a lesson learned about the
perils of believing and acting upon unverified e-mail warnings.

Windows 2000 and Windows ME include a Windows File Protection (WFP)
feature that will recover shared files such as JDBGMGR.EXE if they are
overwritten or deleted. Users of other Windows operating systems can only
retrieve JDBGMGR.EXE by reinstalling the Microsoft Virtual Machine (VM)
component, but Microsoft is no longer offering it as a download.

See the link below for more information on JDBGMGR.EXE.

Additional information: Microsoft Debugger Registrar for Java
(Jdbgmgr.exe) Is Not a Virus
(Microsoft)
Last updated: 21 September 2002


Before passing a virus warning on to your friends and mailing lists, it's
a good idea to check websites dedicated to exposing hoaxes, such as Urban
Legends:

<http://www.snopes2.com/>

or Hoaxbusters :

<http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HoaxBustersHome.html>.


Ter Ellingson

Professor, Ethnomusicology, Comparative Religion, Canadian and
South Asia Studies
Adjunct Professor, Anthropology

Box 353450 ellingsn at u.washington.edu
University of Washington (206) 543-7211 voice
Seattle WA 98195 (206) 616-4098 fax

http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8820.html