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Hoax or the real thing?

courtesy of the Hungry Poet

The "jdbgmgr.exe" is definitely a hoax as confirmed by both McAfee and Symantec at the following links:

MCAFEE:
http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=99436

SYMANTEC: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/jdbgmgr.exe.file.hoax.html

These hoaxes ask you to delete legitimate Windows system files.

Basically key characteristics that alert you it is possibly a hoax but these are not hard and fast rules:

1. when it claims neither McAfee nor Symantec can detect it
2. when it asks you to manually delete a file
3. unsolicited emails telling you that your system has a virus

On (1) if it is a known virus, either McAfee or Symatec would have issued a warning 1 - 2 days of first discovery and very unlikely to go unnoticed for more than a few days.

On (2) viruses don't get removed just because you deleted one file. It's usually a little more complicated than that.

On (3) the worst case are those that send you a program asking you to run the program to remove a possible virus in your computer. These so called innoculation programs are in fact the actual viruses.

CHECK VIRUS STATUS:

Before you trust any party, you should first learn to trust McAfee and Symantec, after all these are the world's foremost authority and virus detection is their business. You can easily check whether a real virus threat exists by logging on to their Anti-Virus search database:

MCAFEE:

1. http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/default.asp
2. Under "Virus Search" panel, type the keyword of the virus
3. Click SEARCH icon

SYMANTEC:

1. http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html
2. Under "Search" dialog box, type the keyword of the virus
3. Click SEARCH icon

BEST PRACTICE:

1. Subscribe to McAfee or Symantec (Nortan Anti-Virus) for your own PC
2. Do not rely solely on corporate or network based scanning tools
3. Download and update the Virus Scan data WEEKLY !!!
4. Turn on AUTO-PROTECT (Symantec) or VSHIELD (McAFee) to detect automatically
5. Run FULL virus scan on your PC at least once a month, weekly after downloading (3) if you are paranoid.

Both McAfee and Symantec update their virus scan data every Wednesday (USA, Eastern Time) and it is normally available in most parts of the world by every Thursday morning. In the event of a massive breakout of a new virus, a special update may be issued anytime, so when you read of such breakouts, it is advisable to check for latest downloads immediately.

13 August 2002 Tuesday

I received an email from someone who forwarded an email from a trusted friend about a virus and instructions on how to detect and delete it.

It turned out to be a hoax.

How unfortunate that a hoax is easily confused with the real thing. Similarly, spam emails deflect our attention away from the genuinely good emails. No wonder it's difficult to get someone's attention these days! They think you're a hoax!

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