Emails exhorting recipients to “forward this to everyone you know” continue to do the rounds in Vanuatu. While those people that do send them on are acting in the interests of their friends and colleagues, alas the result is quite the opposite – wasted time, wasted internet resources and slower systems. More cynicism is required whenever dealing with such emails.
A recent example concerned Bin Laden and an Olympic torch attachment. Apparently, if you received any email suggesting Bin Laden had been found hanging or if you received an email with an Olympic torch movie, your computer would be utterly destroyed. The email proves this by stating that Microsoft confirmed it to be the worst ever virus and that CNN are also giving it top billing.
The email suggests that the best thing to do is forward the warning to everyone in your address book. And so the cycle continues to another few dozen people, resulting in a snowballing cascade of identical emails flooding out round the country and round the world.
Of course, the emails are nearly always false. It is simply a prank, making use of basic human desire to help out in order to achieve a less than noble aim (this is the “social engineering”). Anyone concerned about such viruses should not only have anti-virus software, but should also be making sure that it is being kept up-to-date at least daily. And anyone concerned about such emails should not be downloading and opening strange attachments they are not expecting without treating them with a gread deal of suspicion.
Above all, there are numerous websites dedicated to the latest viruses – see symantec.com, mcafee.com or sophos.com for example. Each can describe the most recent threats and hoaxes, provide commercial anti-virus software and updates, and even a subscription service to provide authoritative email updates on new and current threats. Far more reliable than something forwarded by someone you know who got it forwarded from someone they know who got it forwarded from someone.... etc. etc.
It does seem a small thing, to avoid forwarding an email to a dozen or so people. Yet every rainstorm consists of single drops of rain. Creating a storm of email needs many people to each do this small thing, and human nature being what it is, even in this day and age of mistrust and self-interest, it is still a relatively easy and common achievement.
Try not to give these pranksters the satisfaction. And bear in mind, such mass-forwardings of email also tend to broadcast the email addresses of sometimes hundreds of people. Such long lists of genuine email addresses are valuable indeed to spammers, phishers and spyware dealers. Harvesting such proven and highly sellable email addresses may even be the reason for the false email warning in the first place. Be cynical. Be very cynical.
Questions?
- Merlin Pacific IT provide effective & efficient business IT. Join VIGNET (Vanuatu Internet User Group) email discussions, register at http://tinyurl.com/zcusl
