Hoax Viruses! Check Out Before Warning Others
There are been many virus hoaxes throughout the years, and the majority of them were circulated on the Internet that anyone and everyone who used a computer were tricked by them
A virus hoax is, quite obviously, the threat of a virus when there is actually nothing to worry about. There are virus hoaxes, computer virus hoaxes, hoaxes email viruses, and computer virus myths and hoaxes that abound in emails and these are all a waste of time and money, and the only purpose of a virus hoax is to spread to as many people as possible.
There are many hoax viruses that have been established throughout the years, such as the one in 1944 in which inexperienced email users dutifully forward an email which warned people not to open any message that contained the phrase 'good times' in the subject line; the missive here is warning people about a virus that has the power to erase a recipient's hard drive. Its spread truly demonstrates the self-replicating power of the email virus hoax. Invitation virus hoax, computer virus hoax or any other form of hoax virus circulates in different forms in today's world.
Some of the past hoax viruses include that of
3b Trojan: This is also known as KZip Trojan, PKZ300B.ZIP. This is harmless and is intended as a hoax.
AIDS:If you happen to have an email message that has a subject as OPEN: VERY COOL! :). Then probably it is the AIDS hoax.
Antichrist:It is a hoax that is said to destroy the furrow zero of the hard disk, where vital information for its operation is kept.
AOL4Free, AOL, AOL.EXE, AOL Flashing IM, AOL RIOT 2 Virus, are some of the popular hoaxes related to America online services.
Y2K Virus The Y2K virus can easily be considered as one of the most well-known viruses of all time, and the basic premise behind this virus was that all of the computer systems in the world were going to shut down once midnight on December 31, 2000 came; this of course which would have bee an absolute catastrophe.
A complete list of hoaxes can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_virus_hoaxes
How To Prvent Hoaxes
There are severa l key steps that you can take in order to protect yourself and your computer system from hoax viruses, with the first step being to truly understand "what is a virus hoax". By learning and thoroughly educating yourself on the entire matter you will be able to more considerately and properly understand the issue and what it really consists of. Also you will gain knowledge of what is involved in both prevention and elimination. Viruses and hoaxes such as the email virus hoax can be prevented if you only take a few steps and tips into consideration that are essential. Since most hoax viruses are received in the manner of chain mail, the best and the easiest thing you can do is simply delete any email chain letters that you receive without question. As well, do not send or forward these to any of the people that you talk to. It is also irrelevant whether the email came from someone you don't know, a friend or family member, or even a large and well-known computer company.
You should also learn how t o be able to spot an email hoax virus.
It is similar to knowing of an email offer that seems too good to be true, chances are that you're probably right. Although urban legends and computer hoax viruses have been around for ages, their popularity is on the rise because of the use of the Internet. Also it is easy to use the Internet to spread virus hoaxes.
Some tips to keep in mind in order to tell the signs of what a scam is and what is not are:
- you don't know the person who sent you the message
- you are being promised untold sums of money for little or no effort on your own part
- you are asked to provide money for something
- you are asked to provide your bank account number or other personal financial information
- the request contains a certain sense of urgency
- You are asked for photocopies of government certificates, banking information, or other important types of documents
The most important thing to remember is to always keep the issue of h oax and other viruses in mind when you are using the computer and opening your mail. Remember that just because you think that you are presently taking the full security and safety precautions this does not mean that you are completely safe from viruses and hoax scams.
The key thing to remember when you receive an email from someone you don't know either delete it immediately or take the time and consideration to determine whether or not it could possibly be a hoax virus. You could do an online search of some popular antivirus sites like Symantec and if there are any possibilities at all that is it a hoax then you should delete the message.
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