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Internet Viruses, Virus Hoaxes & Urban Legends
by Gary Schweinshaupt, SPCUG Webmaster

Periodically I get frantic email from members and friends with "important messages" about new email or computer viruses or "special requests" that are actually hoaxes. Even more frequently, it seems, I get forwarded chain letter hoaxes with some fantastic giveaway (always think to yourself before forwarding, is this probably too good to be true?) or other wild claim. 

While savvy Internet users can usually immediately spot the hoaxes, many of our members can be both intimidated and frightened (not to mention the time and effort wasted when the messages are passed back and forth, to spread these 'alerts/hoaxes'). Running virus checking software can also be a very time-consuming endeavor (especially on a large Local Area Network), when you find that you have stopped everyone from working for several hours to check for a hoax, it can be really embarrassing. However, if you actually discover a virus (especially if you discover it prior to any real damage), you are a hero! You can't be too careful, it is certainly best to error on the safe side.

My advice is to do a little checking on your own before you excitedly message all of your friends and associates, and possibly embarrass yourself by wasting a lot of their time. For sure, all of these hoaxes eat up major amounts of Internet bandwidth. The easiest thing to do is assume that all virus warnings and chain letters are fraudulent, until you can prove otherwise, if you can't find that they are hoaxes, then forward them. I haven't seen a valid  chain letter yet.

Here are some of the most recent offenders: 

We are all also going to have to become as vigilant about security issues, as we are about computer virus issues. Check out our Online Computer Security Issues and News page for more on implementing security on your computers.

What is phishing?
(Or, how to fight phishing at the user-interface level)
As people increasingly rely on the Internet for business, personal finance and investment, Internet fraud becomes a greater and greater threat. Internet fraud takes many forms, from phony items offered for sale on eBay, to scurrilous rumors that manipulate stock prices, to scams that promise great riches if you will help a foreign financial transaction through your own bank account. Phishing is growing at explosive rates, and all should make themselves knowledgeable about these dangerous frauds. One of the best papers I've seen on the subject is What is Phishing from the O'Reilly Network, please check it out.

Here are some of the better sites that track both email and other computer viruses, virus hoaxes and urban legends. I rely heavily on the U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability's (CIAC) Internet Virus Hoaxes page, Trend Micro (viruses and hoaxes) and the About.com Guide to Urban Legends and Folklore, but the others all have good and usually current information. Between them, they describe dozens virus hoaxes, bogus chain letters and urban legends. 

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These sites provide a valuable service to the Internet community, especially for new users.

  • Trend Micro (maker of PC-cillin Anti-Virus)
    Virus Map

Where does this data come from?
The Trend Micro Virus Map (above) displays information about actual virus infections detected by HouseCall, our free on-line virus scanner for PCs.

How is this data used?
Trend Micro uses this dynamic map to analyze worldwide virus trends in real time and to predict virus outbreaks and prevent them proactively. To learn more about best-of-breed antivirus and content-security solutions for your corporate network or home PC, please visit:

Other Virus 
Information 
Websites

Virus
Updates

Cert.org

AVP

 US-Cert.gov

Command

Incidents.org

Dr Solomon

SANS Institute

eSafe (Aladdin)

McAfee

F-Prot

 Norton

McAfee

Adware
Removal
Websites

 Norton

PC-cillin

Ad-Aware

Sophos

Spybot

VET

Spyware Blaster

 

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  • Quatloos - Scams & Frauds Exposed
    PC Magazine says, "...aimed at informing you of the many ways devious and dishonest people seek to part you from your money."
    http://www.quatloos.com/
  • FactCheck.org - Holding politicians accountable
    From nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
    http://www.factcheck.org/
  • Anti-Phishing Working Group - Email Frauds Exposed
    Phishing attacks involve the mass distribution of spoofed email messages with return addresses, links and branding, which appear to come from banks, insurance agencies (health, etc), retailers or credit card companies. These fraudulent messages are designed to fool the recipients into divulging personal info such as account usernames and passwords, credit card numbers, etc.
    http://www.antiphishing.org
    http://www.antiphishing.org/phishing_archive.htm

If you don't find your 'alert' listed as a hoax on one of these sites—then, by all means, send 'alerts' to everyone you think you can help. "It's dangerous out there, please take care of yourselves!"

Updated: August 15, 2009

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