Re: [FWDLK] Virus HOAX.

[Dave Stragand <dave.stragand@KETCHUM.COM>]

brians wrote:

> Don't know if you've heard of this one before but
> it can't hurt to pass it along - actual or not.
>
> Subject: [Fwd: [Fwd: VIRUS WARNING (Serious!)]]

Thanks for the thought, but this is one of the many "successful" internet hoaxes
going around.  Please
notify whomever you received that email from (and whomever you might have
forwarded it to) that there
is no such virus, and to check the web sites listed at the end of this email if
they wish to confirm this.

In short, if it says "pass this on to all of your friends",  DON'T!!!   Any
 email
that says that is ALWAYS,
ALWAYS, ALWAYS fake.  ALWAYS, no exceptions!!!   =)

HERE'S THE DEAL:

The basic truth is this: RUNNING or OPENING an ATTACHMENT to an email might
possibly infect your
machine, but simplyREADING an email message can NOT.  It's important to
understand the difference.

Several of these hoaxes have been passed around the net, with 'Pen Pals' and
'Good Times' as two of the
biggest.  With the internet, rumors are passed via email faster than light.
Remember the fax-based hoax a
few years back about gang initiations and people driving with their headlights
off?  That was also another
fast perpetuated urban legend.

It's caught a lot of people up; it's even made it to national television at
 times
as a 'real' danger of the
internet.  One important thing to remember.   If it says "pass this on to all of
your friends",  DON'T!!!
Any email that says that is always fake.  And I mean ALWAYS...

For more information, please check out the web sites listed below and attached
 to
this page, or read on:

HOW CAN I TELL IF IT'S A HOAX?

There are several methods to identify virus hoaxes, but first consider what
 makes
a successful hoax on
the Internet.  There are two known factors that make a successful virus hoax,
they are:

     (1) technical sounding language, and
     (2) credibility by association.

If the warning uses the proper technical jargon, most individuals, including
technologically savvy
individuals, tend to believe the warning is real.  For example, the Good Times
hoax says that "...if the
program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an
nth-complexity infinite binary loop
which can severely damage the processor...".  The first time you read this, it
sounds like it might be
something real.  With a little research, you find that there is no such thing as
an nth-complexity infinite
binary loop and that processors are designed to run loops for years at a time
without damage.

When I say credibility by association I am referring to whom sent the warning.
If the janitor at a large
technological organization sends a warning to someone outside of that
organization, people on the outside
tend to believe the warning because the company should know about those things.
Even though the person
sending the warning may not have a clue what he is talking about, the prestige
 of
the company backs the
warning, making it appear real.  If a manager at the company sends the warning,
the message is doubly
backed by the company's and the manager's reputations.

Individuals should also be especially alert if the warning urges you to pass it
on to your friends.  This
should raise a red flag that the warning may be a hoax.  Another flag to watch
for is when the warning
indicates that it is a Federal Communication Commission (FCC) warning.
 According
to the FCC, they have
not and never will disseminate warnings on viruses.  It is not part of their
 job.

Ketchum recommends that you DO NOT circulate virus warnings without first
checking with an
authoritative source.  Authoritative sources are your local computer
administrator or your Computer Help
Desk.  Think about it - a real warning about viruses will never come via a
forwarded email from a friend.
Warnings without the name of the person sending the original notice, or warnings
with names, addresses
and phone numbers that do not actually exist are almost always hoaxes.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE A WARNING:

Upon receiving a warning, please contact your local computer administrator or
your Computer Help Desk.
You may also wish to check with the person who submitted the original warning.
Contact that person to
see if he/she really wrote the warning and if he/she really touched the virus.
If he/she is passing on a
rumor or if the address of the person does not exist or if there is any
 questions
about the authenticity or
the warning, do not circulate it to others.  Instead, send the warning to your
computer administrator or
incident response team and let them validate it.  When in doubt, do not send it
out to the world.  Your
computer administrators and the I.T. team are experts who try to stay current on
viruses and their
warnings.

In addition, most anti-virus companies have a web page containing information
about most known viruses
and hoaxes.  You can also call or check the web site of the company that
 produces
the product that is
supposed to contain the virus.  Another useful web site is the "Computer Virus
Myths home page", at
(http://www.kumite.com/myths/) which contains descriptions of several known
hoaxes. In most cases,
common sense would eliminate Internet hoaxes.

-Dave Stragand
Ketchum,  Pittsburgh
(412) 456-3839