“On Est Tous Paris” Virus Hoax

“On Est Tous Paris” is a Virus hoax that suddenly spread in France like a wildfire, today – October 16th. As is unfortunately the case with such things, the hoax involved the latest great tragedy in the war with terrorism, the recent bombings in Paris. The “On Est Tous Paris” Virus (french for “We are all Paris) supposedly sends a solidarity postcard that prompts you to click on a picture. At the moment it is unclear whether such a card exists and if it is a virus or not.

The “On Est Tous Paris” Virus

The real hoax begins when supposedly (again) security specialists discovered that the “On Est Tous Paris” postcard contained a virus. From here on a jumble of information is dumped on all possible readers.  A message claiming there is a virus surfaces. It says the following, translated in English roughly:

• “You might receive an email called ” We All Paris “that has been widely disseminated since this WEEKEND. In this message a baby photo with a bracelet saying “we are all PARIS ” prompts you to click on the photo ! DO NOT CLICK this message. It contains malware (viruses) that can take away from your phone or computer control and retrieve all your data and passwords [Source:. Cyber ​​Service Crime French Ministry of Defense]. So, send this message to your contacts. It is urgent and it’s going very fast, and it has been circulating since Sunday. The confirmation of this information was broadcast on Europe 1 this morning (sic).

Here’s the first cue that it’s a fake: there is no Cyber ​​Service Crime French Ministry of Defense. It simply doesn’t exist.  L’Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’informations (ANSSI for short, translated as “National Agency for the Security of Information Systems”) – the real counterpart that should be responsible for such duties, does not have any trace of the “source” the message speaks of. Obviously no such report exists. Usually when someone quotes a source, a link is provided, and here there isn’t one. This further brings doubt of any official statement.

If you in fact clicked on such a picture or believe your system was compromised at another time, please use the following scanner to check for any virus infections:

The “Europe 1” Virus

Here’s more proof it’s a fake: there was no broadcast on Europe 1 about this supposed virus – although the people from the above message claimed so. The Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Europe 1 are silent on the matter and also contain no traces of an official statement.

Now, the only real question is, is there even such a solidarity card circulating? Is there a virus in it, regardless of the bogus message? Opinions abound seem to have no clear answer. Just to be sure, we advise you to use a security scanner to check if your system’s safety hasn’t been compromised.