Re: [RPRWG] About that Virus Alert
At 22:06 08/04/2003 +0200, Offer pazy wrote:
Sorry to
bug everyone, but viruses make me very nervous.
Did you all get that virus alert from
igor@xxxxxxxx? (Sent to our mailing
list.) Is it serious and reliable?
Something in that message made me suspicious a bit. It requires deleting
an innocent-looking Windows .exe file deep down in System32 directory.
The file details look perfectly fine (revision, description, old creation
date, etc.) so I wonder if this is a joke or what.
Any useful advice?
Yes. I make it a firm policy not to take any notice of virus alerts,
regardless of their apparent source, without first checking the validity
of the alert against one of the AV companies' websites - Symantec for
example have an online directory of viruses and hoaxes here:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html
Search their database using the filename that the hoax asks you to delete & it will give you all the detail you need.
In general, emails telling you to delete file XXX.YYY from somewhere your Windows directory are highly likely to be hoaxes that are simply encouraging you to do damage to your system - the fact that you might get the message from someone that you would otherwise trust & that you might therefore give such a message credence just tells you something about human gullibility.
Ask yourself how you would react if your buddy told you that it was vitally important for the health of your automobile that you remove & destroy the cooling fan from under the hood. You would probably wonder what he was on, or maybe look at the calendar to see if it was April 1. Even if you were ignorant of auto engineering, you would probably ask the local repair shop before you did anything. Why should it be any different when it comes to dealing with your PC?
Regards,
Tony