Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Something Smells Rotten...


Here at NNF low brow humor is right in our sweet spot. However, we also pride ourselves in our professionalism during our day job. (Editor note: Wasn't this posted during work hours?) Occasionally our worlds collide.

A NNF Staffer was managing an important server when he discovered a very suspicious file. That file was named: FART.EXE

No file named FART.EXE should be on this server. (Editor note: On this server? What server should it be on?) This cause great concern, was it a Trojan, malware, spyware, web-bot, virus, or just a prank from a fellow staffer? Have we been hacked or has the system in some way been compromised? Great care was taken to isolate this file, scan it for viruses, and move it into quarantine. No virus or evil was found. Maybe it is a new virus, maybe we should upload it to one of the big security centers for analysis! What was it, we must know!

One particularly curious (and foolish) staffer copied the file to his laptop and ran the file to see what it was... When is a FART, not a FART? When the file is a text manipulation utility used to Find And Replace Text! No virus, no prank, just a crummy utility... A staffer used the utility and forgot to remove it from the system only to rediscover it months later thinking it was something evil. Good for a chuckle and a little geek excitement on a day before a holiday!

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