In message <E0ys2JJ-0001QG-00@mailswitch>, Dawn Patrick
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>Personally I'd rather be safe than sorry. I would feel pretty stupid
>if I ignored such a message and someone actually had developed a
>virus that would do this. As far as I'm concerned, unless you have
>definite knowledge that a specific message is a hoax, please
>continue to circulate these messages just in case.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Dawn
Yes, I know, another posting clogging up email boxes on this, and for
that I apologise, but I guess that most people not interested in this
are just deleting wholesale without looking now.
I really just wanted to disagree strongly with Dawn (in as friendly a
way as possible!). It is the matter of a few moments to check out a
hoax; either visit one of the sites that has been specifically
established to track them, or just do an Altavista search for the name
of the hoax and the words hoax or virus and you can ascertain the
validity or otherwise of the warning. It'll take only a little longer to
check than it does to write and post the warning email to a mailing
list, for heavens sake!
Surely as information professionals the one thing that we should always
do is to check our information and sources before providing data to our
users?
However, rather than just leave it there, I'll do some research and
create a page to link to sites that provide virus/hoax information. I'll
post details here when its written, and will encourage people to check
there first!
Phil.
--
Phil Bradley: Internet Consultant, Trainer, Web designer and Author.
Visit http://www.philb.com for free information on Internet introductions,
search engine articles, web design tips and a host of other free information.
**Coming Soon - The Advanced Internet Searchers Toolkit. LA Publications**
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