Virus Hoax

What Does Virus Hoax Mean?

A virus hoax is an email that provides a warning about a virus, worm or some other disaster, and urges recipients to forward the message. Hoax emails are often sent from what appears to be a reliable source, which can make determining whether to heed their message difficult for recipients. Although such hoaxes are usually benign, they suggest that recipients delete important files from their computers or download an infected attachment.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Virus Hoax

Virus hoaxes can often be distinguished by their sensational nature as well as the official sounding claims they often contain.

For example, in 2006 an email circulated that claimed that emails with an attachment named “invitation” contained an “Olympic torch” that would burn a computer’s entire hard drive. The email claimed that the virus had been announced by CNN and discovered by McAffee. Of course, the entire concept was a hoax.

Some people consider hoaxes to be a type of worm in and of themselves because they prey on people’s fears about the Internet and influence computer users’ behavior.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Latest Networking Terms

Related Reading

Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…