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About Viruses & Hoaxes:

~ First, you should know that it would be inappropriate to post virus warnings on the H-W-E list. You can contact the list administrator -- or other list subscribers -- privately about this issue if you are very concerned about a particular virus.

There is, however, another mailing list where discussions about viruses are quite appropriate. You can subscribe to it by sending the word subscribe to the following address: VIRUS-DISCUSSION-L-request@rootsweb.com.

~ Second, you should also know that it is virtually impossible for your computer to be infected with a virus through any Rootsweb mailing list, including H-W-E. This is because Rootsweb has constantly-updated filters to catch viruses. If your computer does get hit with a virus, it came from another source -- eg. private mailings or your address book-- not through receiving Rootsweb mailings. Having a good virus protection program installed on your computer is a good idea, as a preventative measure.

Please educate yourself about viruses and also about hoaxes which often circulate on the Net. Here are some web sites which have the latest virus updates, as well as information to help you determine if a virus warning is real or just a hoax. If your computer does become infected with a virus, there is also section which lists sites to help you get rid of it.

~ About viruses:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/default.asp -- McAfee site; includes a Virus Information Library (with an alphabetical listing) and a list of the "top ten most worrisome viruses".

http://symantec.com/avcenter/ -- Symantec AntiVirus Research Center. Includes list of Top Threats in viruses. Scroll down to the bottom of their web page for links to their sites in Netherlands, UK, France, Australia.

http://www.cert.org/ -- CERT Coordination Center "Internet Security Expertise". Inclues Latest Alerts section, analysis, search engine.

http://www.trusecure.com/html/tspub/hypeorhot/index.shtml -- TruSecure Corporation, "The leader in Internet security assistance". This site seems to be aimed at businesses and corporations but still lists useful virus info for average computer users.

~ About hoaxes:

http://www.datafellows.com/virus-info/hoax/ -- Hoax Warnings website for F-Secure Corporation (formerly Data Fellows).

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/scares/ -- Sophos Virus Information: Hoaxes and Scares. Alphabetical listing.

http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ -- The Urban Legend Combat Kit: The Truth About Viruses and Virus Warnings.

http://www.vmyths.com/ -- Vmyths.com website, formerly Computer Virus Myths. Alphabetical listing of virus hoaxes, urban legends etc. "and the implications if you believe in them"

http://www.snopes.com/ -- Urban Legends Reference Pages with a website search engine so you can find their info on virus hoaxes.

~ Site which help you clean your computer of a virus (for free):

http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

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