Viruses - hoaxes and otherwise

                           By Sue

The SUNFNBL hoax virus first came to light in April 2001 but has
recently been doing the rounds again. Essentially you get a
well-meaning message from someone who has been warned by
someone THEY know that they have a virus on their system,
undetectable by Norton or McAfee, and that as someone in their
address book, it will probably have been passed to them.  They've
been told to look and see if they have the file sulfnbk.exe on
their system. If so, they're told, they have the virus and should
delete the file. They look and, yes, they have it - everyone has,
because it is a Windows file to do with long file names. And they 
delete the file. Thus the hoax is propagated, causing potentially 
as much damage as a 'real' virus, causing people to trash their 
OWN computers and snarling up email when they send warnings to
everyone they know, and so forth.


So, if you get one of these messages, warn the person who sent it
to you that they've been 'hoaxed' and DON'T delete any files off
your hard drive.

For full details check out The SULFNBK hoax info page which is
part of a Virus Hoax site at
www.europe.f-secure.com/hoaxes/sulfnbk.shtml

It's also worth having a look at Computer Viruses : Recent Alerts
on www.st-and.ac.uk/ITS/faq/virus/alert.html

This has detailed listings of genuine viruses and hoaxes. It's
worth checking if you are sent a warning.

It's annoying to be sent a virus. It's even more annoying and
potentially damaging to get your system infected by it and pass it
on to other people. The original, malicious hoaxers prey on this
understandable fear. Don't get paranoid about viruses but be
aware. Install good anti-virus software such as McAfee or Norton
and keep it up to date. I update my McAfee software on the first
of every month and at other times if I get a warning from them of
a new or particularly nasty virus. McAfee have a good warning
newsletter system which you can subscribe too. You don't have to
be a registered user of their software.

In general, don't open any attachment sent to you unless you know
the person who sent it to you and are reasonable sure that they
knew they were sending it and that they know what it is. If in
doubt, delete the email and document and contact the sender to
check.









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