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MICROSOFT VICTIM
OF
E-MAIL HOAX

Microsoft, on Monday, warned users of two hoax e-mail messages posted to the Internet, claiming to be y2k fixes for Microsoft products.

The first hoax e-mail surfaced last week with an executable file attached. This time, however, users were lucky, because the attached file was a "benign executable," said Don Jones, director of year-2000 readiness at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash. "But the user who created this could just as easily have created a virus."

With six months to go until the millennium date rollover, hackers could easily play on the fear of users, offering what they say are year-2000 fixes, but instead delivering damaging viruses. "This kind of thing could happen much more frequently as we approach the year 2000," Jones said. "There is a lot of fear and uncertainty among users about year 2000, and my fear is that users will install these executables."

The hoax e-mail reads: "Dear registered Microsoft customer, we have compiled a program to test and fix the issues related to the year 2000 change. Attached is a LANCHECK <#ENTREF> file to execute on your Windows 95/98 operating system. Please send any questions or comments to the Microsoft Y2K team at www.microsoft.com\Y2K. Sincerely, Tom Chandler, SVP, Y2K Taskforce, Microsoft Corp."

There is no Tom Chandler working at Microsoft, according to Jones. Jones has been working with Microsoft's security group on assessing the risks of such hoax e-mail messages and similar threats, acknowledging that Microsoft is "a large target."

Microsoft is investigating this incident and another one that surfaced early Monday, Jones said. In the meantime, Microsoft warns users not to trust any e-mail that claims to be from Microsoft and offers an executable.

Microsoft does not send software via e-mail; rather it provides software patches for year-2000 issues and security issues at its Web site for download by users, the company said in a statement. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com.

Boy Convicted of Murdering Neighbor

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) _ A teen-ager was convicted Thursday of bludgeoning and stabbing his 8-year-old neighbor to death and hiding her body by stuffing it into the frame of his water bed.

A jury deliberated for more than two hours before convicting 15-year-old Joshua Phillips of murdering Maddie Clifton, who lived across the street from him in Jacksonville. He could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Joshua showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Maddie's parents, Steve and Sheila Clifton, blinked back tears. ``This is a day of justice for Maddie,'' Sheila Clifton said outside the courthouse, clutching a bracelet with Maddie's name on it. ``That piece of my heart that's gone is waiting on the other side, waiting on the other side for us.''

Phillips, who was 14 at the time of the murder, was tried as an adult. Under Florida law, he cannot get the death penalty because he is under 16.

Maddie disappeared Nov. 3, 1998, prompting a search of her neighborhood by hundreds of volunteers.

A week later, the boy's mother, Melissa Phillips, grew suspicious of an odor in his room. When she pulled aside the frame of his bed, she saw Maddie's feet.

Joshua told police that he accidentally hit Maddie in the eye with a baseball while they were playing in his backyard. She began screaming, and he panicked, fearing his father would punish him. He said he dragged Maddie into his bedroom and when she wouldn't stop screaming, he hit her in the head with a bat. When she kept moaning, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the neck, he said.

Defense lawyers argued that Maddie's murder was not premeditated and urged jurors to convict the teen of manslaughter.

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