Viruses Hoaxes, ScumWare, and Other Such

Have you been the victim of an Internet scam or hoax? Odds are,you have been. There are virus hoaxes, urban legends, scams, andchainletters making the rounds through electronic mail. It is sometimesdifficult to tell truth from fiction. The way to protect yourself, your friends, and yourcomputer is be become informed about the issue.There are many types of hoaxes out there. Some of them are obvious,some are not. It always pays to check a respected source of informationto verify any email you have received and may forward on.

Or... has your computer started acting wierd and you don't know where theseextra programs have come from? When you install new software do you read all of thescreens before clicking "next" or "ok"? If not, you may be at risk for becoming a victim of adware, spyware, or scumware.

Virus Hoaxes

Computer viruses are scary. Nobody wants to get one and risk havingtheir computer messed up. You should remember though, a good portionof the email about computer viruses you receive are probably hoaxes.

Here are a basic ways to tell if it is a hoax:

a computer virus affects your software not your hardware.
if it seems unsubstantiated, i.e. does not give references.
if a solution is not included.
if if asks you to send it on to X number of others.

A good website to go to for more information on identifying a computer virus hoax is VMhths.com: How to spot a hoax computer virus alert.I reccomend always checking a virus warning to see if it is true. Click here for a list of links to virus warning webpages.

Other Hoaxes

Virus hoaxes are not the only ones making the rounds on the Internet.There are ones about contests, the poor children who have cancer, and health related warnings, such as missing kidneys and AIDS needle sticks.Here are a couple of methods to help weed out truth from fiction.

Non-profit organizations, like the American Cancer Society, do not giveaway money. They are raising money for research themselves.
If the incident happened to a friend of a friend of a friend of someone'sthird cousin.
If the email claims to be able to almost magically track email messages.

Most of the same websites that deal with computer virus hoaxes also dealwith these other types. Sites about urban legends are also good waysto check to see if the email is really true.

Adware, Spyware, and Scumware

Increasingly, programs you download from the internet for free are including other little programs that get installed without your awareness. They may cause problems with your computer, collect information with out your knowledge, direct your web browser away from legitimate websites, or perform other shady routines.

Your best defense against these additional programs is to read every screen when you install new software. There are thousands of programs out there that will install spyware, adware, or scumware if you let them.

What is adware?

What is spyware?

What is scumware?

Symantec: The makers of Norton Antivirus

Macafee: The other antivirus software company

VMyths.com: Virus Hoaxes and Myths

Other Websites

Snopes.com: Hoaxes and Urban Legends
Stiller Research
CIAC Virus Database-US Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability. They donot update the information anymore but they provide a number of links to companies who do keep track ofcomputer viruses and hoaxes on their webpages.
Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute CERT Coordination Center

Spyware, Adware, Scumware

Spychecker : database of spyware and adware
Privacy Power: Adware, badware, and spyware
Scumware