How do I determine that a virus is a hoax?
by Roger Barnette
This is my favorite question to answer.
I get these all the time, and seldom do
people check things out before sending
out a flurry of emails to the known world.
Then eventually, someone checks the alleged
virus out and have to reveal that it is,
in fact, not a virus, but a virus hoax.
The best way to check our a alleged virus
is to first go to Symantec's website.
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
Symantec is the software publisher of
Norton Antivirus and basically, if a virus
is legitimate, they will have a fix for it.
If not, then they too will know about it.
This website lists all the known virus hoaxes
and makes it easy to review for some keyword
that may look suspicious.
My favorite is the "SULFNBK.EXE Warning" hoax.
It instructs the user to seek a standard
file that usually exists on a Windows computer.
Checking out the virus or virus hoax before
you hit that send button can save you a
huge amount of embarassment.
Please let us know if this has helped you out.
(2002-10-11) Return to Archives
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