Virus (Hoax) Warning!

Cats

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Cats

(A public service message to cat lovers)

You've all gotten them: the impassioned warnings to avoid this or that e-mail because it will destroy your hard drive, your romantic relationships, or leave you in poverty. The majority of these e-mail warnings are hoaxes, folkses.

They are the true viruses, because they can cause:

Wasted time reading them and passing them on to everyone on your e-mail list, as they always exhort you to do.
Unnecessary panic as you frantically search your e-mail to see if you've ever received the file.
A tremendous drain on Net Resources, as these false warnings multiply like the very viruses they warn of.

The true tragedy of these hoaxes is that they tend to minimize the impact of the real viruses and worms warnings that are occasionally sent out.

Here's a particularly nasty hoax that is currently circulating among cat lovers' mail lists:

VIRUS WARNING!

IBM and AOL have just reported that a new Virus - WOBBLER - is on the loose.

It will arrive on an E-mail titled: "How to Give a Cat a Colonic". IBM and AOL have announced that it is VERY powerful, more so than Melissa, and that there is NO known remedy. This virus will eat all your information on the hard drive, and also destroy 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 too many people seem to know about this yet, so propagate this information as fast as possible. This information was announced yesterday morning by IBM.

Please share it with everyone in your address book so that the spreading of the virus may be stopped. This is a very dangerous Virus and there is no remedy for it at this time. Please practice cautionary measures Thank you!

To check your system for this virus, and to learn how to protect yourself from computer viruses, visit the McAfee PC Clinic at http://clinic.mcafee.com.

About the only accurate information in this hoax is the advice to go to the McAfee web site for information. Also it's ironic that they use the term "propagate" so loosely, as that is exactly what they want you to do: propagate their hoax!

Here's the real truth about the "Wobbler/Cat Colonic Virus" from DataFellows. Scroll down a bit to see the "Cat Colonic" version.

I'm certainly not trying to minimize the importance of practicing safety where it concerns your valuable files. No one should open any e-mail attachment, even one sent from a friend, without first running it past a virus scanner such as McAfee or Norton.

So, how does one tell a valid warning from a hoax? Thought you'd never ask!

First, they almost always try to lend credibility, by mentioning AOL, IBM, the FCC, or other large institutions. Second, they always exhort the recipient to forward this information to everyone on your e-mail list. This is how they get their kicks, you see, by thrilling over the thought of thousands of panicky people passing their garbage from e-mail box to e-mail box.

Whenever I receive one of these "warnings" I always head straight to the Urban Legends site right here at . David Emery, the Guide, has become somewhat of an Urban Legend himself, and has more information about e-mail hoaxes, urban myths and legends, than any place else on the Net. I have to say, in the past three years or so, he has never let me down. I've run every single "e-mail virus warning!" I've received past his site, and found every single one of them was a hoax. Can't hardly beat 100% odds, I'd say! His site also is an entertaining read, from the ghoulish and grisly to the heartrending Urban Legends. You'll recognize many of them, I'm sure.