Anthrax-laced letter to MS license div confirmed

No joke

By Thomas C Greene in Washington DC • Get more from this author

Posted in Software, 13th October 2001 03:32 GMT

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Update #2 A letter returned from Malaysia to the Reno, Nevada offices of Microsoft's licensing branch has tested positive for anthrax spores, local health officials have confirmed.

A preliminary test indicated anthrax, and a subsequent one did not. A tie-breaker on Saturday confirmed that the postal-friendly and quite deadly bacterium is indeed present.

The materials will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia for further analysis, and Microsoft employees are being questioned to learn who might have handled the letter. There is no danger to the public at large, health officials believe.

The poisoned post was originally mailed from the MS office with a cheque to a vendor in Malaysia. It recently returned whence it came with three payloads: the uncashed cheque, some pornographic imagery, and a biohazard. It is not known whether the anthrax spores and porno found their way into the letter in Malaysia, in one of the post offices it passed through, or in the Microsoft licensing office where it originated. ®

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