Save the Teddy Bear: Ignore the Email Hoax

I don't usually write about viruses here, but I've gotten no less than 3 phone calls about the email going around telling people to delete the file JDBGMGR.exe with the teddy bear icon from their computer and pass the warning onto everyone in their email address book. The thing is causing a lot of people to waste each other's time, so here's my public service announcement for the year.

It's a hoax, folks. A social virus, so to speak, that is designed to get people to spread it rather than computers. The 21st-century version of good old chain mail.

If you don't believe me, go check the Symantec Security Response article on the email hoax. (It's over a year old, so I guess it's just random chance that everyone's seeing it now.) I recommend checking Symantec's library whenever you get an email telling you to do something because of a virus. Don't assume that the person who sent it to your researched it. All three of the people who talked to me are intelligent, and comfortable with computers, but the real problem was that for some reason when it came to this email, their fear of inaction outweighed their natural skepticism.