Truth About Computer Security Hysteria

Ouch! Hoax virus story on SecurityNewsPortal's front page

ALERT VMYTHS READER Chris Stagg noticed SecurityNewsPortal fell for the A Card For You hoax virus alert.

Or, more specifically, they carried news of the "virus" from AME Info, a Middle Eastern financial newswire.  SecurityNewsPortal was still highlighting the bogus alert on their top page and displaying it as an urgent news item when this column went to press.

These things can happen when you carry someone else's newsfeed, you know.

Vmyths, for example, carries one of the Moreover newsfeeds.  If Moreover should ever get duped by a hoax virus alert, then we'll automatically carry it.  And we'll automatically look stupid, just like SecurityNewsPortal did.^[1]

And, yes, we'll make every effort to poke fun at ourselves if/when it happens.^[1]  Our readers learn valuable lessons the easy way by watching others who learn the hard way — especially when a hard lesson happens to someone here at Vmyths.

Say, does anyone remember when Network Associates faxed an urgent bilingual "security alert" to warn Russians about the Irina virus?