s e c r e t d e s t r o y e r s

4th December, 1997

ICQ - The virus with a friendly face

Our suspicious minds have uncovered yet another secret. After any of our discoveries, we debate with each other for hours, deciding if we should reveal anything to the general public. This time, however, it was different. We didn't even have to
discuss. As we dug deeper and deeper into this doozie, we knew everyone should know. So here goes.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the popular new internet software called ICQ. A versatile program aimed at making your friends on the internet easier to find. What struck us about this program, is that if your friends are that much easier to
find and track, what stops anyone from tracking you? So we decided to conduct one of our investigations and this is what we came up with :

ICQ - "i seek you"

In the setup for ICQ, you've probably had to decide whether or not you wanted your copy of ICQ to start up everytime you connect to the internet, or for LAN users, whether or not you want the program to start up with your computer. You will
notice the default is always 'yes'. Either way, as soon as the program is launched, while you go about e-mailing, browsing the web, transferring files and chatting on IRC, the ICQ NetDetect Agent is quietly running in the background. Quietly? Or is it watching your every move? Yes. It is monitoring all incoming and outgoing data from your computer. It knows where you live. It knows what you like to look at. It knows who you know, and what you say to them. It knows what files you have on your computer, and what files you may distribute to others. Think about that. Pictures, letters, software, and anything else you can imagine.

who would want to watch your every move?
                                                                                      
The answer to this has yet to be determined, but we wouldn't put it past the US Government, mass advertising agencies, the Christian Coalition, or any other organisation that would be interested in YOUR interests, or fighting for a censored
internet. We believe that the targets are commercial software pirates, distributors of pornographic material, and anti-establishment groups. Other possible targets are those distributing American software to countries under US embargo.

how will this affect you?
                                                      
That is up to you to decide. If you happen to be involved in these activities, or just don't want to be monitored, discontinue your use of the software. Otherwise, live with the risks.

how did we discover this?

For reasons of security we cannot disclose our sources at this time. We can however, tell you that some of the information we've learned regarding this issue, has not been mentioned for the same reasons of security. We can also say that we've been in contact with many people in high places in the software industry, many of whom are very well-known and respected. These people will back our findings up, if they are ever indentified.

you have been warned...
                                                          
Until next time,

secretdestroyers

"secrecy and a free, democratic government don't mix" - former president harry truman

For more info on the secretdestroyers, see our site :

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/6289/