Don`t forward virus warnings, delete them

If you’ve ever received a virus warning from your friends, family or co-workers, you’ll know what I’m talking about. These virus warnings are hoaxes and are untrue reports.

For example, the Olympic Torch virus is a hoax and was identified back in early 2006, according to UK based anti-virus company Sophos.

You are encouraged NOT to forward these types of warnings to people as not only is it a waste of time and bandwidth, but it can also confuse or worry the recipient.

The best action to take is as follows:

1. DO NOT forward the email to ANYONE.
2. DELETE the email.

If you are part of a company, you should also adopt the following policy for people who send you these type of virus warning emails:

You shall not forward any virus warnings of any kind to *anyone* other than your network administrator. It doesn’t matter if the virus warnings have come from an anti-virus vendor or been confirmed by any large computer company or your best friend. *All* virus warnings should be sent to the network administrator alone. It is network administrator’s job to send round all virus warnings, and a virus warning which comes from any other source should be ignored.

If you receive a virus warning from anyone other than your network administrator, you should inform them of this policy.

If you’re still concerned about viruses, you should ensure that your anti-virus software is installed and up to date. You don’t need to buy expensive software, there are many ways to prevent a virus or malware infection for free, which are just as good.

So remember folks: don’t forward virus warnings, delete them.