13.5 Risk Assessment -- Low

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Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows
By Roger A. Grimes
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Table of Contents
Chapter 13.  Hoax Viruses

13.5 Risk Assessment -- Low

Because we are talking about fake warnings, there is little risk. Most hoaxes don't do any real PC harm, and the only one that did required a simple file replacement. But that is not to say that there is no exposure cost. The time that it takes to deal with hoax messages and the computer resources involved can add up to a lot in large organizations. Unless you implement and follow a consistent procedure for dealing with hoax virus warnings and chain letters , they can use up email resources and waste the time of end users and network administrators as they mentally deal with viruses and worms that will never appear.

13.5.1 Future Hoaxes Will Be Better

We will be forever plagued with hoax email warnings. Like software programmers trying to refine their product, future hoax authors will write hoaxes that don't automatically set off red flags. The hoax will appear legitimate, contain legitimate links to security sites, with embedded email addresses to reliable industry sources, and talk about a rogue program that could very well exist. It can easily appear as if it came from a reliable source, carrying a sender address from a well-known security web site. How can you tell what is and isn't real in the future?

In the future, most people will rely on some sort of message authentication signing that verifies that the warning message came from a reliable site. That is already true on most serious security sites. All their announcements and warnings include an authentication signature.


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Malicious Mobile Code. Virus Protection for Windows
Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows (OReilly Computer Security)
ISBN: 156592682X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 176

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