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Author Topic: virus warning  (Read 3849 times)

Offline Alex&fran G

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virus warning
« on: November 15, 2006, 09:34:23 PM »
[attachment=428:attachment]Just received this email,Thought it might be useful to members regards Alex G[
MAKE SURE YOUR MEMORIES ARE NEVER GREATER THAN YOUR DREAMS.

Offline Alex&fran G

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virus warning
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2006, 10:10:54 PM »
Quote from: Alex&fran G
[attachment=428:attachment]Just received this email,Thought it might be useful to members regards Alex G[
Having trouble sending the email basically it is headed life is beautiful,apparently when you open it it says life is not so beautiful and takes everything from your computer including your email address and password you must delete it without opening it. I will try to post it again later or if anyone wants it forwarding just email me and I will forward Regards  Alex G

Quote from: Alex&fran G
Quote from: Alex&fran G
[attachment=428:attachment]Just received this email,Thought it might be useful to members regards Alex G[
Having trouble sending the email basically it is headed life is beautiful,apparently when you open it it says life is not so beautiful and takes everything from your computer including your email address and password you must delete it without opening it. I will try to post it again later or if anyone wants it forwarding just email me and I will forward Regards  Alex G
Sorry a bit misleading the email I have is the warning not the actually virus one.
MAKE SURE YOUR MEMORIES ARE NEVER GREATER THAN YOUR DREAMS.

Offline Graham_and_Karen

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« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2006, 08:34:53 AM »
Quote from: Alex&fran G
Quote from: Alex&fran G
[attachment=428:attachment]Just received this email,Thought it might be useful to members regards Alex G[

Having trouble sending the email basically it is headed life is beautiful,apparently when you open it it says life is not so beautiful and takes everything from your computer including your email address and password you must delete it without opening it. I will try to post it again later or if anyone wants it forwarding just email me and I will forward Regards  Alex G

Quote from: Alex&fran G
Quote from: Alex&fran G
[attachment=428:attachment]Just received this email,Thought it might be useful to members regards Alex G[

Having trouble sending the email basically it is headed life is beautiful,apparently when you open it it says life is not so beautiful and takes everything from your computer including your email address and password you must delete it without opening it. I will try to post it again later or if anyone wants it forwarding just email me and I will forward Regards  Alex G

Sorry a bit misleading the email I have is the warning not the actually virus one.

Confusing indeed! This email is actually a spoof warning about a non-existant virus. See the Norton Anti-virus comment at http://www.symantec.com/security_response/...-011511-0444-99

 

Offline steven

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« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2006, 02:28:49 AM »
Please don't respond to that sort of E mails.
They have been scaring the internet for years now.

Below is some information i found on the internet about hoaxes.
 

Hoaxes  Symantec Security Response uncovers hoaxes on a regular basis.

These hoaxes usually arrive in the form of an email. Please disregard the hoax emails - they contain bogus warnings usually intent only on frightening or misleading users. The best course of action is to merely delete these hoax emails. Please refer to this page whenever you receive what appears to be a bogus message regarding a new virus, or promotion that sounds too good to be true.


 
Virus Hoaxes
 
There are a lot of viruses out there. But some aren't really out there at all. Virus hoaxes are more than mere annoyances, as they may lead some users to routinely ignore all virus warning messages, leaving them vulnerable to a genuine, destructive virus.


Hoax warnings are typically scare alerts started by malicious people - and passed on by innocent users who think they are helping the community by spreading the warning.

Do not forward hoax messages. We've seen cases where e-mail systems have collapsed after dozens of users forwarded a false alert to everybody in the company. Corporate users can get rid of the hoax problem by simply setting a strict company guideline: End users must not forward virus alarms. Ever. It's not the job of an end user anyway. If such message is received, end users could forward it to the IT department but not to anyone else.

How to Recognize a Hoax
Probably the first thing  you should notice about a warning is the request to "send this to everyone you know" or some variant of that statement. This should raise a red flag that the warning is probably a hoax. No real warning message from a credible source will tell you to send this to everyone you know.

Next, look at what makes a successful hoax. There are two known factors that make a successful hoax, they are:

(1)  technical sounding language.
(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 weeks at a time without damage.

When we say credibility by association we are referring to who 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.  

Both of these items make it very difficult to claim a warning is a hoax so you must do your homework to see if the claims are real and if the person sending out the warning is a real person and is someone who would know what they are talking about. You do need to be a little careful verifying the person as the apparent author may be a real person who has nothing to do with the hoax. If thousands of people start sending them mail asking if the message is real, that essentially constitutes an unintentional denial of service attack on that person. Check the person's web site or the person's company web site to see if the hoax has been responded to there.  Hoax messages also follow the same pattern



also have a look at this ste

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/
No trees were killed in the posting of this message but a large number of electrons became terribly excited.

Offline compage

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« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2006, 11:27:27 AM »
Good advice.
Well said Steven.
John Page

Offline Colin

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« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2006, 07:06:53 PM »
I recieved 4 of these emails in the last few weeks and it still amazes me that they can still in circulation as the hoax started in 2002

Have a look at this site www.nowyoudo.co.uk all the major virus companys have hoax pages these are all listed on the virus scanners page, also have a look at the spam and phishing page there's links to sites that list all the phishing emails going round etc.