When you receive an email telling you about a virus, what do you do with it?
Do you send it to everyone in
your address book to help them
protect themselves too? A virus
warning is probably on its way
to your inbox right now, claiming
to be from a credible source
and warning you of a dangerous
virus on the loose. Beware.
You might be tricked into taking
part in an Internet hoax - chain
mail virus alerts. It is believed
that 60% plus of the Virus Warnings
in circulation are hoaxes. Further,
your anti-virus software may
already have a cure for this
particular ailment IF it is
real. Even old hoaxes, which
have been around for years,
can make the rounds again, according
to Trend Micro, an anti-virus
software company. 'There are
a number of new hoaxes because
they are so easy to write, you
don't need to be a programmer,'
the anti-virus company spokesperson
said. What about all of those
'Get Paid to Send Email' schemes?
Do you forward them along too,
because you do not know if they
are true or not, and figure
'why should I take the chance
that it is not real?' These
'Get Paid to Send Email' schemes
are a fine example of hoaxes
that can make the rounds again
and again. There have been at
least a dozen incarnations of
a 'Get Paid to Send Email' hoax
recorded at several of the hoax
sites listed in this article.
For the complete story, try
the search terms 'Bill Gates'
or 'Nike' or 'AOL / Microsoft'
at any of the Hoax sites. Let
me cut to the chase, no one
has the technology to track
emails sent through the Internet!
No one will ever pay you for
sending emails to everyone in
your address book! This story
is a verified hoax. Here is
a list of Hoax Information Sites
that you can check the validity
of the warning or the message
in your email inbox. You might
just be surprised by which items
are hoaxes and which are not.
http://www.kumite.com/myths
http://www.snopes.com http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
http://antivirus.about.com/compute/antivirus/
For those people who don't know
the tell-tale signs of hoaxes,
here's a checklist: IBM/Microsoft/Dell/Gateway
have verified this. Does anyone
think they care? They don't.
If it said Norton, McAfee or
any other antivirus vendor I
might listen. If a virus killed
your computer or software the
above companies would be delighted
because you'd have to buy more
computers, and they would be
delighted to sell you one. Even
if the email proclaims that
one of the virus companies is
verifying this virus, where
is the link to the virus companies
website, detailing the important
information concerning this
particular strain of virus?
Published on CNN. Again, where
is the link? Could you find
it yourself? You'll never be
able to use your computer again.
Hogwash. If you got a virus
the very worst case is that
you'd have to format it and
reinstall everything. And that's
extremely rare anyway. No virus
will harm your computer, only
the software on it. This virus
damages/destroys Windows and
McIntosh systems. More hogwash.
These are two very different
operating systems with very
different ways of executing
software. Don't even open it!
Yea right. 99.9% of virii are
carried in attachments to emails
not in the emails themselves.
Use a bit of common sense and
don't open any unexpected attachments
from strange sources. And if
you keep your AV software up
to date, you're most often covered
anyway. (The only email software
not safe from some types of
viruses are Outlook, Outlook
Express, and Netscape 6. Users
of Outlook and Outlook Express
can visit http://Microsoft.com
for the patch to protect these
email programs from imbedded
vb-script viruses. Netscape
6 users can guarantee their
own protection by turning off
the JavaScripting feature inside
of their Preferences.) Forward
to all your friends. Now we're
down to the crutch of it. This
email IS the virus - a social
one. Look at the facts. It gets
sent to all your friends. It
infects peoples inboxes and
causes panic. Sounds like a
virus to me. It doesn't actually
do any harm like most virii
but is a waste of your time.
Verify these things yourself
before forwarding them. To simplify
the task of verification, there
is a new freeware application
on the market designed to help
you do just that. It is called
'Quick Swords V' and it has
been developed for you by a
new company called InternetMusketeers.com.
The 'V' stands for 'Virus'.
Here is an overview of how the
software works: 'Simply type
in your Search Terms, then click
on the Virus / Hoax Information
Searches drop down list, and
then select your choice for
expert guidance on the subject
of Viruses and Hoaxes. With
Quick Swords V, we can help
take the guesswork out of your
decision making process. We
are giving you direct access
to the nearly immediate search
results of 16 Virus / Hoax sites
on the Internet.' Quick Swords
V (virus) ships as Freeware,
so you have no excuse not to
verify the Virus information
before sending it to everyone
in your address book anymore.
It only takes a minute to verify
the latest juicy warning in
your email box. I know your
mouse finger is itching to click
Forward, but your friends will
Thank You for verifying this
information before hitting Send!
Instead, click here: http://InternetMusketeers.com/apps/QuickSwords
I would like to thank the following
people for assisting me in the
gathering of the information
presented in this article: Steven
McCarthy, Co-Owner of A Helping
Hand at: http://learn.at/ahh
Christy, Co-Owner of http://Hackfix.org;
a non-profit site dedicated
to fighting worms and trojans
Mike Banks, the Owner of Mikes
What's News at: About The Author
Bill Platt - Owner of WindstormComputing.com
and The Windstorm Computing
and Technical Support Newsletter.
Subscribe: WindstormComputing-subscribe@topica.com.
Also the Author of the award-winning
Quick Swords Family of Software
Products: http://InternetMusketeers.com/apps/QuickSwords
|
