Send this blog to 40 friends to avoid contracting a vrius

Virus hoaxes prey on people's fear concerning computers. People understand that computers benefit them, and know how to perform certain tasks, but generally lack an understanding of how computer software works. I honestly do not understand why the creators of virus hoax e-mails find satisfaction in fooling the inexperienced.

Sending on a message warning people of a non-existent e-mail is not generally especially damaging, but it can have some negative effects. First, it causes people to misunderstand the nature of viruses and virus warnings. If people rely on receiving mass e-mail from friends about viruses, rather than by using virus scanning software and checking legitimate security websites, they are more likely to get a real computer virus. Secondly, some hoaxes, such as the jdbgmgr.exe hoax, claim that operating system files are viruses and need to be deleted. I haven't come across any hoaxes that call for the removal of any essential system files, but that possibility exists. Finally, they are a waste of bandwidth, space, and time.

Determining the validity of a virus warning e-mail is possible. If the warning comes through e-mail from a friend rather than through a virus scanner or Internet security company, chances are it's a hoax. Several websites, such as Snopes, Synaptic, and McAfee, provide lists of common hoaxes. Remember that just because the message says it has been checked by one of these sources, doesn't mean it is legitimate. A hoax I received recently even provided a link to Snopes, and the page it referred to discussed a real virus, with a similar subject line. A little more investigation, however, showed that the message I received was not this virus, and I was able to find the page that identified this hoax. Wikipedia also reminds us that if the message claims to do nearly impossible things, or to be from a respected company but includes emotionally-charged language, it is probably a hoax.

Inspiration for this post:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_virus_hoaxes
The other links in this article
A hoax I recently received, that is like the invitation hoax