Cob: Virus alerts on the coblist

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Sat, 16 Feb 2002, Matthew HALL(SED) wrote:

[snip]
> Hoax or not i think we all should all act responsibly in these
> situations and let people know if there is a virus alert.
[snip]

PLEASE DON'T send virus alerts to the coblist!  Here's why:

   1 - They are off topic.
   2 - The rate at which new viruses are currently being created
       is such that if only one alert posting were sent to the list for
       every new virus, we would have far more virus postings to the
       coblist than cob related postings, and that's assuming that only
       one person sends the warning to the list.
   3 - A large percentage of virus alerts are hoaxes.
   4 - A large percentage of virus alerts are actually a form of virus
       themselves.  Alerts which include instructions on how to check
       for and "fix" a supposed virus are almost always a form of virus.
       They include instructions on how to check for the virus by seeing
       if you have a particular file (that you actually are supposed to
       have on your system), or if your computer behaves in a particular
       way (which it is supposed to), and tell you this means you have 
       a virus.  Then when you apply the included fix, you have corrupted
       your computer, openned it up to attack from the internet, or
       otherwise created a problem where none existed.
   5 - The appropriate places to find out about viruses are sites which
       specialize in viruses like www.cert.org, www.symantec.com or
       www.mcafee.com, not the coblist.
   6 - This may sound harsh, but everyone on the internet should be
       running with some kind of virus protection.  If you don't have
       a current virus protection program on your computer, GET ONE!
       You are far more likely to get a computer virus from a friend
       than you are from the coblist, and there are lots of ways strangers
       can get them into your computer too.  Yes I know it means spending
       money, but how much is the contents of your hard drive worth to
       you?  It only takes one virus to wipe out everything, and it
       can take alot of time and/or money to get your computer 
       reconfigured from scratch.

If you truly believe that YOUR computer was infected with a virus and sent
an infected message to the list, or that you have received an infected
message from the list, then send me (not the list) a message, preferably
with a copy of any infected message you believe went to or came from the
list and I will look into it.

Now let's please put an end to the virus discussion.  If you feel anything
further needs to be said on this subject, please email me privately.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
                      |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
   or: (541) 451-5177 |                  www.deatech.com