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| How to Spot
a Virus Hoax Identifying Real Virus Warnings By Eric Griffith Pop quiz: You receive the following e-mail from your cousin in Maine: WARNING!! Virus Alert! It will arrive on e-mail titled "CALIFORNIA." IBM and AOL have announced that it is VERY powerful, more so than Melissa, there is no remedy at this moment in time! It will DESTROY all the information on your hard drive and also destroys Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. DO NOT open anything with this title and please pass this message on to all your contacts and anyone who uses your e-mail facility. Not many people know about this yet, so propagate it as fast as possible.What do you do?
The first thing to examine when you receive a virus warning is the source. As much as your friends and family are looking out for you, they probably don't have a clue about what makes for a real virus. If your grandmother in Phoenix sent you the message, you'll want to think twice about heeding the warning without doing a little research. As a rule of thumb, you should put your trust only in virus warnings that come from reputable sources, such as the tech support people at your Internet service provider or the network administrator at your workplace. The trouble is that even these messages can be faked. What if Grandma forwards you a message that looks like it came from the systems administrator at the Internet start-up where she's been moonlighting in her retirement? Spot a Fake Even if the source of a virus warning seems reliable, you'll still want to look for the red flags that signal a virus message is a fake before you pass it on to others. Senders of hoaxes want to panic you, so they'll play on your fears by threatening such things as the total annihilation of your hard drive. The more exclamation points (!!!) and WORDS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS that are in the message, the more likely it is that the warning is false. Both real and fake virus warnings threaten the loss, corruption, or misuse of your data. Some may sound less realistic than others -- for example, chances are slim that any virus would send all of your personal financial files to the attention of the IRS. But virus programmers can be clever folks. So, how do you know for sure if a virus warning is fake? Beware of Attachments The next step in sorting out the real from the fake virus warnings is to become savvy about viruses and understand how they can and can't be transmitted. The best way to spread a virus is through an attachment. If you receive an attachment to an e-mail from someone you don't know or trust, or if you receive an attachment that you weren't expecting, don't open it. Delete it or check with the sender to find out what it is. This is true for any attachment, including executable files (those that end with .exe or .com) for Windows, Microsoft Word (.doc) files, or Microsoft Excel (.xls) spreadsheet files. Both Word and Excel support special macro languages that help users automate mundane tasks. Virus programmers have become adept at turning these macro languages into virus-making tools. Keep this in mind: If a file can execute, it can have a virus. The good news is that other common file types can't carry viruses. Graphics files, for instance, are safe. For more information about how to protect your computer from viruses, visit About.com's AntiVirus Area. Visit Antivirus Research Centers The best way to be absolutely sure that a virus warning is fake is to ask the experts. All the major manufacturers of antivirus software have centers that track viruses and Trojan horses from around the world. (A Trojan horse is similar to a virus, except it doesn't replicate itself.) Whenever you get a virus warning, take a minute to surf over to one of these research centers: Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) McAfee AntiVirus Center Dr. Solomon's Virus Central Network Associates AVERT Research Center IBM Antivirus Online When you visit one of these centers, simply perform a search of the site using the name of the virus you were warned about to find out if it's real or not. Also, be sure to visit the warning pages at these sites on a regular basis, as they are among the first to sound the alarm when a truly threatening virus surfaces. Better Safe Than Sorry Of course, the wisest thing you can do is to inoculate your system with some good antivirus software, such as McAfee VirusScan, and keep it up to date with downloadable virus definition updates. Armed with reliable protection and good information, you'll always be ahead of viruses, both real and fake. Eric Griffith sometimes lives a quiet, dignified, yet highly wired lifestyle in the wilds of the metrowest area of Massachusetts. |
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