Dive into the hilarious world of the AF/91 virus hoax, where a playful April Fool's prank spiraled into a decade-long urban legend. Discover how misinformation bloomed in the age of the internet, with echoes of military cyber warfare adding to its allure. The hosts explore quirky anecdotes about brain alterations and whimsical satire, all while navigating the chaos of social media. Join a lighthearted discussion that blends nostalgia for early computing with insightful critiques on the absurdity of viral myths.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
The AF/91 Hoax
InfoWorld columnist John Gantz published an April Fool's Day article about the AF/91 virus.
This fictitious virus supposedly disabled Iraqi air defense systems during the Gulf War via a smuggled printer.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Media Mishap
U.S. News & World Report, citing anonymous officials, reported the AF/91 story as real.
Despite its similarity to the InfoWorld joke, they refused to retract, spreading the myth.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Think Tank Trouble
The Hudson Institute, a defense strategy think tank, cited the virus myth in a 1995 report.
This further solidified the hoax's legitimacy within official circles.
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This is the story of an April Fool’s Day joke that got wildly out of control.
In 1991, a columnist for InfoWorld claimed that he learned of a hyper-advanced computer virus called “AF/91” that disabled Iraqi air defense systems during the first Gulf War. This virus had allegedly escaped Iraq and threatened every computer that used a windows-based graphical interface. The last line of the column revealed the truth: the story of the AF/91 virus was a fun bit of fiction for April 1st.
But shortly afterwards, a journalist for U.S. News & World Report reported on a virus that sounded suspiciously similar to AF/91, based on confirmation from two government officials. Though the report was clearly based on the joke virus from InfoWorld, the publication refused to retract. So for more than a decade the story was repeated as if it were true in newspapers, magazines, and even in a report by a major think tank.
The boys walk through the evolution of the strange tale of this virus hoax and speculate about why it spread so widely for so long.
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REFERENCES
Meta-Virus Set to Unleash Plague on Windows 3.0 Users
https://books.google.com/books?id=0FAEAAAAMBAJ
Computer Virus Story Proves To Be a Twice-Told Tale
https://www.newspapers.com/image/532416866/
Russian Views On Electronic and Information Warfare
https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/International_Security_Affairs/14-F-0564_DOC_01_RUSSIAN_VIEWS_ON_ELECTRONIC_AND_INFORMATION_WARFARE_vol_1.pdf
Taking a byte from Baghdad: Information War could hobble Iraq, but might become a two edged sword
https://www.newspapers.com/image/775197909/
One printer, one virus, one disabled Iraqi air defense
https://www.theregister.com/2003/03/10/one_printer_one_virus_one/
Attack Of The Trojan Printers
https://www.infoworld.com/article/2285234/attack-of-the-trojan-printers.html
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