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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
August 19,
2007
Q.
When I receive an email with a warning about
a virus, and am urged to send it to everyone
I know, is there any harm in doing so "just
in case"?
A.
What many don’t realize is that just as
viruses cost recipients, so do hoaxes. It
takes time to read and hopefully delete
them. They clog up the Internet and email
boxes with worthless information. If
everyone that received them forwarded them
to everyone in their address book, the
Internet would slow down to a craw and
possibly crash. This is probably the
original intent of the hoax writer.
The
second problem hoaxes deliver is
complacency. An individual, already
embarrassed once for naively believing in a
hoax, is much less likely to accept a valid
virus warning as being true. Thus, a valid
warning is met with disbelief and apathy. In
such a case, a hoax can be considered a
potential precursor to disaster.
So what
should we do when a hoax message is
received? We could succumb to potentially
misguided helpfulness and forward it on as
suggested. Many fall into the "just-in-case"
trap. They forward the email to everyone in
their address book, despite their misgivings
or doubt, just in case it might be true.
This is what the hoax originator is hoping
you will do. So what should we do?
When you
get an email with a virus or other warning,
take a time out.
THINK!!!
If the e-mail sounds like a hoax, it
probably is. Do not instantly react to save
the world. You can be certain, if it's a
real threat, the news media and legitimate
antivirus sources (McAfee, Symantec) will
publish all the necessary alerts. Check out
the facts. Don't become gullible and believe
it just because it came to you in an email
or you read it on the Internet.
Any
report of a virus that you receive via email
is probably a hoax. Be especially leery if
it quotes a source like IBM, AOL, or
Microsoft etc. Try a simple search on the
web to see what information there is about
it. If McAfee or Symantec is quoted, go to
their websites and check it out there.
When in
doubt, don't forward it. If you still need
further reason to refrain from forwarding
these fakes, consider this:
Hoax
forwarding is the hallmark behavior of a
naive and gullible user. Is that really how
you want to be perceived? |
