Dean's methods of spotting virus hoaxes (and this one meets just about all
the criteria):
- There is no date on them. If it was a real warning, it would state the
date the virus was discovered. By not putting a date on, the originator of
the hoax ensures the hoax will not die
- They name a number of big companies (e.g. Microsoft, AOL) as having
confirmed the virus, but don't give references. If Microsoft, AOL or
anyone else confirms a virus (which is very unusual anyway, but not unheard
of), you'd expect them to publish a statement on their website, and a real
virus warning would give the URL of this statement
- The virus has dire consequences, often deleting all your data off your
hard drive. How often have you seen a hoax message about a virus that
turns your screen pink? In reality, any virus which was this serious
wouldn't be able to propogate fast enough to become a major problem - once
your hard disk has been wiped, you'd have no address book any more, would
you? And even if the virus writer propogated the virus before wiping your
address book from your hard disk, you'd realise pretty quickly that
something was up, and then spread the word verbally. The most successful
viruses are the ones that take a while to be noticed
- They will tell you to "pass this on to everyone on your address list",
"not many people know about it" and similar alarming statements. The more
people you pass the mail on to, the longer the hoax stays alive
Finally, if you receive a virus warning that you're not sure about, pick
your favourite anti-virus software, and visit the manufaturer's website.
You can be sure that they'll hear about it before you do if it's real, and
publish as much information as they know on their site. There are also
plenty of sites around that list the various hoaxes in existence - you
could try checking them too.
Thanks for thinking of us, anyway!
Dean
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(Sorry for wasting more bandwidth on this one - hopefully will save someone
else from wasting bandwidth, or worse, some time in the future.)
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