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Virus hoaxes, information security and computer security

What are virus hoaxes? And What is the difference between information security and computer security?

Virus hoaxes are messages originally sent by one or more hackers describing some virus or worm that is extremely dangerous and urges the reader to take some action against their own computer and send the message on to everyone they know. This is social engineering in its purest form: the virus writer does nothing to your computer, they get you to do it. Just about every virus hoax has some combination these characteristics: it invokes the names of one or more large, reputable companies who have reported the virus, the virus is referred to as the "most destructive ever" with none of the top anti-virus vendors being able to stop it and it instructs the user to send the message to everyone they know. Valid virus reports are usually sent by the anti-virus vendors themselves as a public service and they will always provide links back to their sites so that the user can read the full threat report. Here are three of the top virus hoax explanation sites, in no particular order:
·         Symantec
·         McAfee
·         Vmyth

While computer security deals with the processes applied to computer systems, information security concerns all of the aspects regarding the system of policies and/or procedures for identifying, controlling and protecting information from unauthorized disclosure. While often synonymous, information security is actually a superset of computer security, encompassing the fields of data security, transmission security, network security, physical security, personal security and personnel security, among others.

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