Virus rumors and hoaxes

[fran7371@uidaho.edu (John Francis)]

Once again we're getting scare messages about viruses.  This reassuring
article just came out in the UI's Information Technology Services
newsletter.


Viruses vs. Hoaxes


   Many of us have received email warning about potential viruses. Most
   of these begin with "This dangerous virus will wipe out your entire
   hard drive!" and warn about disastrous consequences once the email is
   even read!

   Welcome to the wonderful world of internet hoaxes! Since most of the
   hoaxes have the underlying purpose of propogating chain email, they
   are designed to play on people's fear and are sent onto others by
   people with good intent. The worst part of this is that it scares many
   email users into believing that they might actually lose everything on
   their computer as well as causing unnecessary traffic on the email
   servers. Perhaps the best antidote to fear is knowledge. If you are
   interested in knowing about the latest hoaxes vs. real viruses then
   bookmark the URLs below in your web browser. You'll be doing your part
   to minimize fear, reduce wasted bandwidth and alleviate the burden on
   mail servers around the world!

   While many of these emails are hoaxes, you still need to be aware that
   actual viruses are circulating, such as HAPPY99.EXE. The most common
   ways to receive viruses are through email attachments, newgroups,
   chatrooms, and floppies.

   _Hoaxes, Legends and Lore_
   http://www.us.sophos.com/virusinfo/scares/
   http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax.html
   http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/faxlore/
   http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/
   http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
   http://vil.mcafee.com/villib/hoax.asp
   http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html

   _Virus Patrol!_
   http://www.us.sophos.com/virusinfo/
   http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
   http://vil.mcafee.com/villib/alpha.asp
   http://www.drsolomon.com/vircen/
   http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACVirusDatabase.html

   Phil Medlin
   pmedlin@uidaho.edu

John Francis
311 East 6th St., #2
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 883-0105       fran7371@uidaho.edu