Hackers And Hoaxes

by: Trina L.C. Schiller

By Trina L.C. Schiller

Everyone who has an ISP, understands, or at least knows about how hackers use viruses, Trojans and
other web nasties, to infect and mess up your computer. No headline news there. (Unfortunately, we
still don't understand why they do it, or at least I don't.) But hackers don't have to write
malicious code or hijack your browser to do some serious damage to your system. Oh no... A well
written email with no attachments, can do the trick. They only have to start a rumor.
Hackers can easily manipulate you into trashing your own computer. All they have to do is begin a
hoax.

What do I mean by that? Let me explain.

Have you ever gotten emails from people you know that say something like: Scan your hard drive for
such and such a file! If you find it delete it immediately! Pass this on. Warn everyone you know!

These emails are originally generated by a hacker and spread throughout the Internet to get you to
delete files you need, thus creating havoc for your system. They are hoaxes.

Hoaxes work incredibly well for getting average people to cause their own computers to
malfunction. the hacker doesn't have to spend any time creating malicious code and a method of
distribution, all they have to do is play on the human tendency for hysteria; send out a warning
that something evil is spreading, and if you find it on your computer, get rid of it!

Recently I was tracking a thread on a forum, where the moderator warned everyone about a file that
he found on his system that was a keylogger. (A keylogger is a malicious program designed to track
your every move through monitoring your keystrokes.) He warned everyone to search for a file,
ans2000.ini and, "delete the booger."

I scan my system every day, with several different virus/ spyware programs, and I never picked up
this file with any of them, so I decided to do a Windows Explorer search for it. Sure enough, I
found it on my hard drive. Oh My God!

Before hitting the delete key though, I looked it up on the web. I Googled the specific file and
found quite a bit of information on it. The file ans2000.ini is used in the keylogger program
known as ProBot SE. However, it is also used in many other legitimate programs as well. Ok, so now
what do I do?

Well, I contacted my go-to guy, Jim Gray, owner of Quikonnex, and asked him what his thoughts
were. He told me to open the ini file, in Notepad, and read it. Sure enough, this file did have an
association to another program on my system. It is part of ActivEbook Compiler. It was right there
in print, at the top of the file.

Now had I just freaked out when I found the file, and deleted the booger, I would've trashed my
ebook compiler, making it useless to me. Two points for the hacker who started the hoax!

Hoaxes are just as dangerous as live viruses, because they inspire you to destroy your own
programs. I am sure they are a particular kick for the one starting the hoax, as they are getting
you to do bad things to your own system. Fear is a powerful motivator, and hoaxes, by design, are
created to cause panic and fear in the less experienced Internet traveler.

So, before going and deleting files from your hard drive, go check them out. Do a search for them
and read the information you find. Don't just go deleting things without learning about them
first, or you just may end up cutting your own throat. And, NEVER forward these types of warning
emails to others until you know for a fact that the information is correct, or you're likely to
have your friends and family after you for misinforming them.

Resources for validating virus/ hoax information:

http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp
http://www.vmyths.com/
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/hoax/



Copyright © 2005
The Trii-Zine Ezine
www.ezines1.com


About the author:
Trina L.C. Schiller is a professional network marketer, the publisher of the Internet marketing
ezine, "Trii-Zine" and owner of http://www.tlcpromotions.net, as well as a founding publisher at
http://www.quikonnex.com, and President of http://www.AdsOnQ.com, the Internet's first syndicated
advertising agency.
She has also authored the following ebooks:
"Your Beginner's Guide To Syndication" http://www.ads-on-q.com/booksales.html
RSS, Blogs and Syndication... The Facts vs The guruese" http://www.ads-on-q.com/RSS.html

Keywords: hackers, hoax, hoaxes, ans2000.ini, ProBot SE, ActivEbook



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