>I received this email the other day and was wondering if there is any
>validity to this. The concept seems plausable but I want some second
>opinions.
Well, let's take a look:
>I Learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in its simplicity.
>
>As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads
>straight for your email address book and sends itself to everyone in
>there, thus infecting all your friends and associates. This trick won't
>keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from
>using your address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the
>fact that the worm has gotten into your system.
>
>Here's what you do: first, open your address book and click on "new
>contact" just as you would do if you were adding a new friend to your list
>of email addresses.
Well, the first problem is that this only applies to certain mail
clients. I'm guessing it's only Outlook or Outlook Express (probably not
both).
>In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in !000
>(that's an exclamation mark followed by 3 zeros).
>
>In the window below where it prompts you to enter the new email address,
>type in "WormAlert." Then complete everything by clicking add, enter,
>okay, etc.
>
>Now, here's what you've done and why it works: the "name" !000 will be
>placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This will be where the
>worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. But when
>it tries to send itself to !000, it will be undeliverable because of the
>phony email address you entered (WormAlert). If the first
>attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes
>no further and your friends will not be infected.
I haven't tested this, but I don't think it would actually fool most
viruses. The only way to know for sure would be to test it with a number
of viruses, which it doesn't seem that the original author did. :)
Although it definitely does seem plausible, it also definitely sounds like
a hoax. A search on the Internet finds a number of sites with that exact
text, but none from sites that are known and give it an "OK", and none that
have actually tested it.
It certainly couldn't hurt to try it, but I would strongly discourage
spreading the (mis?)information unless it has actually been tested.
-Scott
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