04/13/19 HELP DESK

HELP DESK

Q: A reader asks: I got an E-mail message from a friend warning that if I opened a message with the subject ''Win a Holiday,'' a virus would erase all the files on my hard drive. Is this for real?
A: In a word, no. ''Win a Holiday'' is the latest incarnation of an astonishingly persistent hoax, variously known as Good Times, Irina, and PenPal, among others. There is no such virus and there is no way that simply reading any E-mail message can damage your computer (although opening virus-infected file attachments can).
A hoax like this causes two different problems: It frightens people pointlessly, and it increases the danger that genuine virus threats--which are fairly rare but very real--will be ignored.
Fortunately, there are two constructive steps you can take. First, make sure a good antivirus program is installed on your computer and that your virus data files are kept up to date. And if you get a warning by E-mail, verify it before you act on it or pass it on. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Computer Incident Advisory Capability (ciac.llnl.gov) has an up-to-date list of Net hoaxes.