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A computer virus hoax is a false email message warning the recipient of a virus that is going around. The message usually serves as a chain e-mail that tells the recipient to forward it to everyone they know.
Contents |
Clues
Most hoaxes are easily identified by the fact that they say the virus will do nearly impossible things, like blow up the recipient's computer. They often claim to be from reputable organizations such as Microsoft and IBM, but include emotive language and encouragement to forward the message which would not come from an official source.
Virus hoaxes are usually harmless, and do nothing more than annoy people who know it's a hoax or waste the time of people who forward the message. However, a number of hoaxes have warned users that vital system files are viruses, and encourage the user to delete the file, possibly damaging the system. An example of this is the jdbgmgr.exe virus hoax.
Some consider virus hoaxes, and other chain e-mails to be a computer worm in and of themselves. They replicate by exploiting users' ignorance or emotional responses.
Hoaxes are not to be confused with computer pranks. Computer pranks are programs that perform unwanted and annoying actions on a computer, like randomly move the mouse.
The consensus of anti-virus specialists is that recipients should delete virus hoaxes instead of forwarding them. For example, McAfee says: "We are advising users who receive the email to delete it and DO NOT pass it on as this is how an email HOAX propagates." [1]
List of computer virus hoaxes
| Name | Alias(es) | Origin | Author | References | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invitation attachment (computer virus hoax) | (Allright now/I'm just sayin) | Michiana Shores, Long Beach, Jamestown Manor, Michigan City (IN), Schaumburg (IL) | Jim Flanagan | The invitation virus hoax involved an e-mail spam in 2006 that advised computer users to delete an email, with any type of attachment that stated "invitation" because it was a computer virus. This is also known as the Olympic Torch virus hoax (see below). | |
| AIDS | (none) | Unknown | Unknown | Not to be confused with AIDS (computer virus) or AIDS (trojan horse), this hoax is about a non-existent virus that is purportedly distributed via electronic mail messages that have "OPEN: VERY COOL! :)" as their subjects. | |
| Amish Virus | UNIX virus, Mac OS 9 virus, Discount virus and many others | Unknown | Unknown | This joke email claims to be authored by the amish who have no computers or electricity to program viruses, thus ask you to delete your own hard drive manually after forwarding the message to your friends. | |
| Antichrist | (none) | Monmouth(uk) | Dylan Nicholas | This is a hoax that warns about a supposed virus discovered by Microsoft and Mcafee named "Antichrist" telling the user that it is installed via an e-mail with the subject of:"SURPRISE?!!!!!!!!!!" after which, destroys the quadearasusalim.bdset one of the most important sectors of the hard disk rendering it unusable. | |
| Budweiser Frogs | BUDSAVER.EXE | Unknown | Unknown | Snopes.com | Supposedly would erase the user's hard drive and steal the user's screen name and password. |
| Goodtimes virus | (none) | Unknown | Unknown | Warnings about a computer virus named "Good Times" began being passed around among Internet users in 1994. The Goodtimes virus was supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header "Good Times" or "Goodtimes," hence the virus's name, and the warning recommended deleting any such email unread. The virus described in the warnings did not exist, but the warnings themselves, were, in effect, virus-like. | |
| Jdbgmgr.exe | (bear.a | Unknown | Unknown | The jdbgmgr.exe virus hoax involved an e-mail spam in 2002 that advised computer users to delete a file named jdbgmgr.exe because it was a computer virus. jdbgmgr.exe, which had a little teddy bear-like icon (The Microsoft Bear), was actually a valid Microsoft Windows file, the Debugger Registrar for Java (also known as Java Debug Manager, hence jdbgmgr). | |
| Life is beautiful | Life is wonderful | Unknown | Unknown | The hoax was spread through the Internet around January 2002. It told of a virus attached to an e-mail, which was spread around the Internet. The attached file was supposedly called "Life is beautiful.pps". | |
| NVISION DESIGN, INC. games ("Frogapult," "Elfbowl") | Sometimes included their other game "Y2KGame" | Unknown | Unknown | Symantec | Programs were actual, legitimate computer games; author claimed that they were viruses which would "wipe out" the user's hard drive on Christmas Day. |
| Olympic Torch | Postcard | Unknown | Unknown | Olympic Torch is a computer virus hoax sent out by e-mail. The hoax e-mails first appeared in February 2006. The "virus" referred to by the e-mail does not actually exist. The hoax e-mail warns recipients of a recent outbreak of "Olympic Torch" viruses, contained in e-mails titled "Invitation", which erase the hard disk of the user's computer when opened. The hoax email further purports the virus to be acknowledged by such reputable sources as CNN, McAfee and Microsoft as one of the most dangerous viruses yet reported.
Of course this email, which was started in February 2006, is safe to delete when you want. |
|
| Stinky cheese | Virus Alert | "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Virus Alert" | "Weird Al" Yankovic | Note that the song, "Virus Alert", is in fact a parody of the exaggerated claims that the authors of computer viruses often make up to try to shock people/delete a file. | |
| SULFNBK.EXE Warning | none | Unknown | Unknown | SULFNBK.EXE (short for Setup Utility for Long File Name Backup) is an internal component of the Microsoft Windows operating system (in Windows 98 and Windows Me) for restoring long file names. The component became famous in the early 2000s as the subject of an e-mail hoax. The hoax claimed that SULFNBK.EXE was a virus, and contained instructions to locate and delete the file. While the instructions worked, they were needless and (in some rare cases, for example, when the long file names are damaged and need to be restored) can cause disruptions, as SULFNBK.EXE is not a virus, but instead an operating system component. | |
| Tuxissa | (none) | Unknown | Unknown | The virus is based on the Melissa virus, with its aim to install Linux onto the victim's computer without the owner's notice. It is spread via e-mail, contained within a message titled "Important Message About Windows Security". It first spreads the virus to other computers, then it downloads a stripped-down version of Slackware, and uncompresses it onto the hard disk. The Windows Registry is finally deleted, and the boot options changed. There the virus destroys itself when it reboots the computer at the end, with the user facing the Linux login prompt. |
References
- McAfee virus hoaxes
- Symantec Threat Explorer
- Trend Micro Virus Encyclopedia
- Sector Zero/Virtual Card for You Email
See also
- Virus Alert
- Malware
- List of computer viruses
- List of trojan horses
- Timeline of notable computer viruses and worms
External links
- A Virtual Card For You Hoax McAfee
- Hoaxkill website dedicated to hoax busting
