|
Aus loco discussion mailing list
Sigh ... how many more times.
I trust Bob won't mind if I play Moderator for a moment, as I'm getting sick of this. I
think it's worth the risk of adding one more message to this thread to try
and make it absolutely clear why these things are a waste of time. But
please don't respond just to agree with me!
All Ausloco-ers should Bookmark the following sites
for future reference -
Norton/ Symantec
Anti Virus Research Centre, Virus Hoaxes
F-Secure Corporation - Hoax Warnings
The Home Page of both sites is also a good
reference for checking GENUINE virus alerts - the newly circulated version
of PrettyPark.exe is a good example. This Internet email "worm" is
now rife again, there is even a copy lurking on a Post on the Bigpond.support
newsgroup, which Bigpond have failed to remove despite three requests.
To address Andrew's friend's specific items
-
(i) CELCOM Screen saver - this is a
HOAX. (First write up 16/8/99)
(ii) SANDMAN Site - this is a HOAX. (First
write up 5/11/99)
(iii) Win a Holiday - this is an VERY OLD
HOAX (One of the originals)
A couple more points, in the hope this will assist
newer users-
(i) Just because it came from "someone at Optus"
gives the warning no additional status, more likely the reverse , as responsible
employees of the phone Carriers know the protocols for this sort of
thing. I work for Telstra (at least I still do this week!) and all genuine
virus alerts are distributed through official channels.
(ii) Most of the more elaborate hoaxes will claim
to be from IBM, or Microsoft, or some other large company. They're not, they're
merely written this way to encourage the uninformed to keep chain mailing the
message.
Perhaps Bob can also consider putting this sort of
info on a "Ausloco" FAQ page, so it can be referred to before anyone clutters up
the List again.
Thanks for your time ,
Paul
To unsubscribe, write to Ausloco-unsubscribe@listbot.com ______________________________________________________________________ Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com |