Another piece of virus hoax boilerplate ... feel free to use any or all of it, if it meets your needs. -- pdr ----- begin boilerplate ----- The "xxxxxxxxxxxxx" virus alert is a hoax. For additional information about this hoax, see the following pages: (list of URL's for this hoax) There are a number of factors to consider in determining the validity of a virus alert, but most of them fall into one of two categories: origin and content. The recipient of a virus alert should ask him/herself the following questions: * Where did the warning originate? Is the sender known by me to be both knowledgeable and reliable in this area? If you receive a virus alert from anyone other than your Help Desk or system administrator, or another trusted source, you should verify the authenticity of the message. If you are unable to do so, you should refer the matter to your Help Desk or system administrator. * Does the warning state that you should forward it to everyone who has Internet access? This is, in my opinion, a dead give-away that the message is a hoax. Most legitimate warnings are sent to system administrators, Help Desk staff, and other technical support personnel who have explicitly requested this type of information, and who can be expected to notify all affected users within their own organizations. In some cases, legitimate warnings may be sent directly to registered users of affected products. The sender of a legitimate warning will never rely on a "chain-letter" mechanism for delivery of the message. * Does the warning state or imply that every recipient - regardless of the type of computer and email software that he or she is using - is susceptible to the attack, and that the virus will be activated just by opening the email message? To the best of my knowledge, there is no known virus that will run on every type of computer and with every type of email software, so an alert which states or implies that this is the case, is probably a hoax. Having said this, I must add some caveats. * Java and Active-X technologies have made it possible to create applications of all types, including viruses, that may run on different types of computers and that may be launched automatically when a message or document is opened by an application that supports these technologies. * Macro viruses attach themselves to documents created by a particular application, such as MSWord. They are spread when infected documents are shared - usually as email attachments - with other users of the same application. You can reduce your risk of susceptibility to these types of attacks by installing and using virus protection software, by using viewers to open documents from unknown or untrusted sources, and by configuring your email and browser software so that Java and Active-X applications are not launched automatically. If you are unsure of how to do any of these, you should request assistance from your Help Desk or system administrator. ----- end boilerplate ----- -- Paul Russell Senior Systems Administrator University of Notre Dame