Threats from viruses are well known throughout the IT community. Hoax threats - the spreading of rumours of fictitious viruses or other malicious code - can waste time, as staff attempt to locate a virus which does not exist.

Vigilance and good virus intelligence warnings are the key to minimising the impact of hoaxes.

• If no one in your organisation is responsible for managing virus alerts, a genuine threat may be misconstrued as a hoax. This could jeopardise Information Security, since new virus variants may have no effective vaccine. See Malicious Code.

There are multiple Key Actions providing safeguards against this Information Security Issue. These are available in the registered version of RUSecure™.

• Hoax threats can deflect attention from the threat from genuine viruses and other malicious code, increasing your susceptibility to 'infection'. See Defending Against Virus Attacks.

There are 2 Key Actions providing safeguards against this Information Security Issue. These are available in the registered version of RUSecure™.