Such warnings come from time to time, and they are almost always fake. If you have a good firewall, Norton/NOD 32 or similar, spy-and spamfilter and they are functioning (you have paid the fees)you have nothing to worry about.
Just after we came home from the Anniversary last year, I received such a warning. I had my son to check it out. Here is the story:
>Subject: Please read and be prepared!!!!!!!!!
>PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE
>Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it!
>If you get an email along the lines of "Osama Bin Laden Captured" or "Osama Hanged" don't open the attachment.
>This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe, but mainly in the US and Israel.
>Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.
>PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
>You should be alert during the next days:
>Do not open any message with an attached file called:
>"Invitation" regardless of who sent it.
>It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer.
>This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts.
>It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
>If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately.
>This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
>This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus.
>This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.
Here is Ragnar's reply:Folks,
I see you have all received this so-called warning of a new virus. And I know that many of you forwarded it in the best possible intent - after all, it looks legitimate. However, a simple google search with some keywords from the e-mail text (e.g. "olympic torch" "osama bin laden") told me immediately that this is indeed a hoax - one that apparently has circulated on the internet since july 2005:
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/invitation-bin-laden-virus-warning.htmlHoaxes are often meant to scare you into getting more concerned about computer security. Unfortunately, they do more damage than help in that they scare people unnecessarily and create more spam (unwanted/unneeded e-mail). So here's something that perhaps is more useful:
No, you are not paranoid - people on the internet _really_ are out to get you. And these days, they don't want to just "inconvenience you" - i.e. destroy data for fun - they do it for profit. So if you don't want organised crime to drain your finances (VISA card, online banking services), take over your PC and use it to shut down web sites or send out spam to all your friends (unbeknownst to you, I might add), make sure to implement the following five layers of defence:
1) Worms can infiltrate your PC with no action taken on your behalf, so make sure you protect your PC with a firewall - it's your first line of defence*
2) Vulnerabilities for software are found almost every week, so update the operating system and all major pieces of software on your PC once a month as a minimum**
3) Surfing the web will infect your PC with spyware, no matter how hard you try to avoid it, so protect your PC with anti-spyware tools and a spyware cleaner program***
4) Despite what anyone will try to make you believe, viruses are still a problem even if your PC is protected with a firewall. So get a reliable anti-virus program and pay for the subscription***
5) The most important part of keeping safe, though, is simply using common sense. Try asking these simple questions, for instance, before providing ANYONE with information over the internet,
no matter what you are asked for:
What do they want to know?
Why do they want to know this?
Is this information I should expect them to ask of me?
What will they do with the information?
How will they keep the information safe?
How will they treat the information? Are they likely to sell it, for instance, or give it out to third parties?
As an example, I'm sure many of you receive e-mails that claims to be from Fifth Third bank, Citibank, eBay, PayPal or others, asking you to verify personal information (account name +
number, credit card name + number + expiry date + CCV code, etc). These companies will NEVER ask you for personal information via e-mail - why should they, when they already have it?
* Windows XP comes with a free firewall, but not a very good one in my opinion. So I would recommend that you install ZoneAlarm, Tiny or another free/subscription based firewall
** Windows Update does a good job of keeping the Windows operating system up to date with patches and updates, and Microsoft Update even includes Microsoft Office. But add BigFix or a similar program if you want protection for more programs
*** Spyware Guard, Spyware Blaster and Ad-aware together provided an adequate free alternative, but a subscription based service like SpySweeper is easier to maintain
**** Try Grisoft's AVG for a free alternative, or the subscription based service of Nod32, Trend Micro or Panda Penicilin. And use on-demand scanners ONLY if you suspect something is wrong with your normal anti-virus software
Are you guaranteed to be safe if you follow all of these tips? Well, there are dozens - if not hundreds - of new threats being discovered every day. So in a word: No! But you are way ahead of the crowd, and you've made the work of the eastern european mafia (or whoever they may be) MUCH harder. So hard, in fact, that they are far more likely to move on to the next PC they find than trying to break into yours...
I hope these tips keep you safe, and I promise I won't spam you again. :-)
RagS!
PS:
Two more questions you should ask yourself about e-mail:
Do the other recipients of your e-mail need to know who you sent it to, and do they need to know who you got the e-mail from? Guess how I got your e-mail address...
PPS:
If this e-mail confused you, I suggest you contact someone knowledgable about IT and have that person check your PC either according to the suggestions above or to their own experience
PPPS:
And before you write a flaming reply telling me how wrong I am about the things I've tried to explain/suggest, consider first that I simplified things as much as I could - I had no intent to write a book, just something that most people with little or no IT experience could understand the most of in about three minutes. :-)
From myself: Thanks for the warning, but with the security built into the PCs and servers, there should be no reason to overreact to such threats. Let's enjoy the Internet, and the Chat pages!!!
