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Virus Warning. This one will Burn your Toast! | - by Dave Cottrell |
It is very commendable and a credit to our friendship when we warn each other of REAL dangers on the internet like scams, viruses, trojans, etc.
However, it is very important and our responsibility when we receive a warning ourselves to check it out before passing it on. There are quite a few hoaxes out there that tie up a lot of bandwidth and inbox space as well-meaning friends CC the warning to all their friends.
Regardless of how well-intentioned you may be, if you forward a hoax virus warning to all your friends, YOU are creating a BIG headache for a lot of people AND a problem almost as big as a REAL virus!
Here's what happens whenever you send out a warning to all your friends without checking it out first.
Your friends and all their friends and all their friends, etc., etc., get all worried, forward this to all their friends, and then a lot of them swarm the AntiVirus sites desparately trying to find out how soon the companies are going to come up with a "cure" for the supposed virus.
The AV company has to deal with all the wasted bandwidth, frantic emails, and support requests coming in to their site about something that DOES NOT, IN FACT, EXIST!
Furthermore, the number of emails that get forwarded grow exponentially as everyone forwards it to their friends. If you think this doesn't matter, that's because you've never had to look after a server! If too much traffic tries to come to a server at one time, THE SERVER SHUTS DOWN. Trust me - I've had to fix this very problem before. It's a huge pain in the posterior.
To top it off, it these hoaxes are a spammer's dream come true. I get a TON of these "forward it to all your friends" emails. The vast majority of people simply hit the FORWARD link, choose everyone in their address book and then hit either CC or just SEND. This is done over and over again as the email is repeatedly forwarded, and guess what happens!?
All the names and email addresses of everyone who ever receives the email are being forwarded to an ever widening pyramid of people everywhere in the world! This means that the chances of a spammer getting hold of all those names and email addresses increases exponentially every time the email is forwarded. Ever wonder why there's so much spam?
To top it off, you've also greatly risked someone getting hold of the list who loves to send REAL viruses and trojans while posing as one of YOUR friends!
Do not pass on warnings without checking the information out for yourself, first. You're not doing yourself or anyone else a favor if it's a hoax. Additionally, use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) function in your email account if you're sending out a real warning to all your friends. This hides all the other names and addresses.
Here are some links to put into a favorites file on your computer - perhaps name it,
"Security" or something similar. When you
receive a warning, check it out first and
if you don't find it listed at any of these
sites as a hoax, only then pass on the warning.
Snopes.com
Urban Legends
Scambusters.org
TrendMicro.com
Symantec.com
McAffee.com
Avast.com
Dave Cottrell is opinionated, compassionate, and passionate about people, marketing and online business. He does a lot of digging, experimenting and research, and writes like crazy about a wide variety
of topics and subjects. He is the owner of many websites and blogs; you can read his rants and find out more about him at http://davecottrell.com/blog.html
This article can be shared freely as long as this box remains intact.
Copyright © 2006 David H. Cottrell. All rights reserved.
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