Internet Hoaxes:
Virus and Email Tracking Hoaxes:
Nobody wants to become the victim of a computer virus due to ignorance. Therefore, it is natural to become apprehensive when somebody takes the time to warn you about a "new virus threat." You've heard about virus hoaxes that are spread by malicious pranksters, meant to cause panic among the technically challenged members of the Internet community. So, how can you tell if the warning you recently received is real or is a hoax?
If the warning was issued by a legitimate antivirus, or online security organization it is probably authentic and will probably advise you to update your antivirus definitions and scan your computer with the option to scan "all files." They may also list some of the filenames used by the virus/worm/trojan and may even offer free downloadable tools to remove these threats.
These tools should always be on the organization's website, and are never sent out as email attachments. If you receive a virus warning email with an attachment, do not open (double-click) it, unless you have first performed a thorough virus scan, using the latest virus definitions available for your brand of antivirus software! Even then, don't automatically trust the email's From: line, as it may have been forged by a prankster who is sending you a real virus. It is better to err on the side of caution that to activate a nasty script!
Symantec, the makers of Norton Antivirus is one of the companies that issue occasional bulletins when new threats arrive on the scene and they always provide links to their actual website for assistance.
There are several security organizations, like Sans.org and CIAC, that routinely send out official warnings to their subscriber base.
However, if you receive an email warning from an individual, whom you may or may not know, and/or if that email has been forwarded and the To: line shows that it has been sent to a whole bunch of people, not sent from a listserver, but from individuals, it is probably a hoax.
The keywords to look for in a hoax are: "This has been confirmed by AOL," or "by Microsoft, or IBM;" "There is no known cure for this virus;" "Norton Antivirus will not detect it;" "your only solution is to format your C drive;" "You should delete Sulfnbk.exe from your C:\Windows\Command directory." These are dead givaways and are commonly used to fool people who are not technically aware in this field.
To assist my friends and visitors I am providing links to some of the major hoax-debunker websites. If you get a virus/worm/trojan warning, and want to find out if such an email is a known hoax, just go to any of the following websites and look through their information. If your warning is among those listed as a hoax, you should delete the email, after notifying the sender (if you know them, or want to notify them) that it is a hoax. I do this once, along with sending them links to these hoax websites. After that I block them in my email rules.
Here are links to some major hoax debunker websites:
Security software resources:
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