[ADMIN] Please... No Virus Warnings

[Guest guest]

OK...

 

I suppose it is time for a little reminder. If you have a forward that you have

a

question about and you are not going to research it yourself by using the urban

legend, virus or hoaxkill sites, then pass it along to the moderators at

-owner and Mani or I will research it for you.

 

I am sure there are new people here who for some reason have not seen the rants

about forwards or chosen to read the FAQ for the list, which specifically

requests

that these not be sent to the forum without verification/approval... so a word

to

the wise is sufficient, eh?

 

We do not want forwards of any kind sent to the list without verification, and

that goes for virus warnings or health warnings as well. Part of the reason is

that false rumors are pervasive on the net and we do not want them dancing in

our

laps. Another reason is that most of these things are created by people with too

much time on their hands and they do not need to be getting so much energy.

Please

assist us with this matter by contacting us offlist if you have a question.

 

We'd like to suggest you read the article " The Hoax That Cried Virus " at

about.com

to see the long range effects of spreading rumor posts:

http://antivirus.about.com/compute/antivirus/library/weekly/aa102300a.htm

 

A couple of excellent sites for researching forwards are:

http://www.urbanlegends.about.com

http://www.hoaxkill.com

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter

http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp?

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/virus.asp

 

Something like this would be all over the news (which it wasn't). If people

would

check the websites listed in the email before forwarding the email, they would

see

no sign of the " warning " . Also, you cannot get a computer virus from opening an

email or visiting a website. As long as your preferences are set so that

attachments do not automatically open, and as long as you do not download

questionable materials from the net, you are generally all right. Most viruses

are

housed in files that are piggybacked in attachments to emails (sometimes even to

the virus warning emails!) and have to be executed in order to affect your

machine. Consider your sources before you open file attachments, and corral your

curiosity and avoid opening *any* .exe files, even if they are from your mother

or

the Pope. Microsoft even warns not to open attachments claiming to be upgrades

or

updates from them.

 

I am certain, considering the date on this one (12-31) it was someone's lame

attempt to scare the poop out of people for New Year's. Full information on this

hoax is located on this website:

http://antivirus.about.com/compute/antivirus/library/hoaxes/blencard.htm?terms=A\

+Virtual+Card

 

Thanks,

Caroline & Mani

 

 

> Message: 18

> Sat, 6 Jan 2001 22:24:11 -0500

> FW: Virus

>

>