Newspaper Page Text
Page 3
Wednesday, April 27,2005
Computer virus hoaxes
nearly as bad as real thing
By Dave Word
News Editor
daveword@bellsouth.net
Last week, another
virus warning showed up
in The West Georgian e
mail account.
This particular
warning read, “You may
receive an apparently
harmless email with a
Power Point presentation
“Life is beautiful.pps.” If
you receive it DO NOT
OPEN THE FILE UNDER
ANYCIRCUMSTANCES,
and delete it immediately.
“If you open this file,”
the warning continues, “a
message will appear on
your screen saying: ‘lt is
too late now, your life is
no longer beautiful,’ and
subsequently you will
LOSE EVERYTHING IN
YOUR PC and the person
who sent it to you [will]
gain access to your name,
e-mail and password.”
Like similar dire
warnings, this one had
already been forwarded
numerous times before
it reached the paper. And
like most, it was a hoax.
The virus doesn’t exist.
The freedom to have
e-mail and the World Wide
Web comes with a price.
The very freedom that
allows legitimate users to
communicate with each
other, express their views
and toot their own horns
also allows those with
more sinister motives to
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spread harmful programs
and perpetrate hoaxes.
Dealing with viruses
these days is pretty easy,
as long as they’re dealt
with before they strike.
An antivirus program
like McAfee or Norton,
updated once a week,
can catch most viruses
and worms. The chances
of a protected computer
getting a virus are then
extremely low.
Hoaxes are a different
matter altogether. They
cause unnecessary alarm,
waste people’s time and
clog the e-mail system with
useless messages from
gullible computer users.
Not only that, these
hoaxes get passed along
over and over again to
everyone the victim knows
and sometimes hang
around for years before
they finally die out.
By now, readers should
be asking, “How can I tell
the difference between a
virus and a hoax?”
The answer is simple.
Ordinary computer users
will seldom receive a
warning about a real virus
unless they subscribe to
a service that does such
things. In fact, warnings
received from a “friend”
via e-mail are nearly
always hoaxes.
The biggest thing these
hoaxes have in common?
They always contain a
statement like, “Please
make a copy of this e-mail
to all your friends and pass
it on immediately.” If it
says that, it’s bogus.
These hoaxes are
designed to frighten their
victims as much as possible,
so there will also be
warnings about the horrible
things that will happen to
infected computers.
How can someone
check for sure? By using a
favorite search engine like
Google. Just pick out a few
words from the warning
and search for them.
In the case of the most
recent hoax received by
The West Georgian , the
words “Life is beautiful,
pps” turned up reports on
the “urban legends” site
(Snopes.com) and on both
the Norton and McAfee
antivirus sites. All three
confirmed that the warning
was a hoax.
Viruses are bad
enough, but the time and
effort, not to mention the
anxiety, that ordinary
users are forced to expend
on hoaxes may make them
every bit as bad. A little
knowledge sometimes
goes a long way and, in
the case of virus hoaxes,
can save time, energy,
needless worry and e
mail resources.
Dave Word is a
Microsoft Certified
Systems Engineer, with
20 years experience in the
field ofpersonal computers
and the Internet.
*
Gospel Choir performs at UWG
Photo by Jennifer Robinson
This group of dancers, accompanied by the United Voices Gospel Choir performed
last week at the Z-6.
Employers, students meet
at Cobb Galleria job fair
By Christina Bailey
Contributing Writer
cmiracleb@aol.com
On Tuesday April 19.
the Georgia Association of
Colleges and Employers
held a job fair at Cobb
Galleria. The job fair
attracted over 3,000
undergraduateandgraduate
students in attendance.
“There were about
42 colleges and university
participating in the job fair.
Thecollegesanduni versifies
at the job fair was a mixture
of public and private
Georgia institutions,”
said Wanda McGukin,
Associate Director of
Career Services.
The job fair had over
159 vendors representing
different companies.
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Students were able to
find about the different
benefits of the job fair.
“It provides a variety of
employment opportunities
in one setting. Students
can go through and pick
out companies they know
that they want to talk to,”
said McGukin.
Students got the
chance to talk and learn
more about different
companies that they may
not have considered in
their job search.
Students came from all
over the state to participate
in the job fair. “Students
came as far as Georgia
Southern University in
Statesboro and as far the
Tennessee and Georgia
line,” said McGukin. The
job fair was the biggest that
Qllje HU'ut (Georgian
the Cobb Galleria center
ever hosted.
Employers also
expected certain things
from students at the job
fair. “Employers are
looking for students that
are focused and open to
learn more about the job,”
said McGukin.
Employersmay require
training on the job which
requires the employees
to be open to different
learning opportunities.
The job fair improved
students job searching and
communication skills.
“Students should take
the opportunity to talk
to jobs that they did not
originally think about. That
expands their market for
employmentopportunities.”
said McGukin.