*sniffle* *cough* *wheeze*

I have a dear friend who sent me an e-mail today, warning me of a dangerous, uncontrollable, unstobbable and irreversable computer virus. The e-mail claims that this particular virus has been verified by McAfee, Snopes and CNN as legitmate and that I should take heed not to open any e-mails from friends of mine who might use a particular word in the subject line of their correspondance.

The problem, as is usually the case for many of these "grass-roots" alerts, is that they are hoaxes! And more and more people fall for them than I can count.

By no means am I suggesting that there are no threats out there...on the contrary: there are plenty of sick and twisted, lonely, bored, megalomanic jackasses out there that would love nothing more than to see you squirm and suffer to lose your computer or to steal your personal information! These are the same people that would pull the legs off of suffering animals or tie tin cans to cats' tails, just to get some warped sense of pleasure out of the suffering of others. These are the ones who simply don't have any friends, are anti-social or simply just can't get laid (even if they paid for it!).

My friends, I pass on this advise, as I do everytime I get one of these warning letters:

1) Make sure you have the latest, most up-to-date anti-virus software. Don't be a cheap-skate about this...go out, spend the money, make the investment to get a decent anti-virus program that scans your hard drives and your mail. Make sure if you DO have this kind of program, RUN IT -- at least once a week. And make sure it is UP-TO-DATE!

2) When you receive "alerts" from others through e-mail, take a few minutes to actually research whether it is a legitimate threat or a hoax. Snopes.com is an excellent resource, as well as McAfee.com and Symantec.com. Don't just pass the information on to your "address book" -- chances are, the warning you've gotten is not genuine, and in many of these cases, they have been in circulation for years.

3) If you receive an e-mail from someone you don't know and it contains photos or attachments, for heaven's sake, don't open them! Viruses and "trojan horses" are commonly embedded in files like this. If you have done so accidently or unwittingly, immediately run your anti-virus program for a complete scan so that you can have peace-of-mind that no damage has been sustained on your computer.

After working with computers for more than 30 years, I value the importance of being informed -- there is a lot of bogus information out there...don't fall for it...but don't get caught with your pants down either (unless that was your intention all along -- call me, we'll talk!). Cheers!