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Viruses

Fooled Again : Virus hoaxes persist
(Article taken from CNetNews.com)

The anti-virus firm Sophos released their latest top 10 virus hoaxes.

Most typically these hoaxes warn the user not to open an e-mail with a certain subject line, or to immediately delete a particular file because it contains a virus. In addition, these hoaxes instruct users to pass the e-mail warning to friends and colleagues.

Once again, topping the list for the 8th successive month, was the JDBGMGR.EXE hoax which urges users to delete this legitimate file. In December, this hoax made up 13.7% of all the hoaxes reported.

Other hoaxes were also false warnings about files and programs being infected with a virus. Two examples include the Budweiser Frogs screen saver, and an e-mail with "A virtual card for you" subject line which was supposed to release a virus that destroys hard drives.

The article goes on to say that even if the hoaxes didn't encourage users to delete any files from their computer, the hoaxes are harmful in that they urge you to distribute it widely -- which is both a waste of time and bandwidth.

The point to this story -- even though all the major anti-virus companies include information about hoaxes on their websites, users continue to fall for the hoaxes.