New Virus Hoax... Appears Legit

Hopefully this will save some people a bit of time:

There’s a new one floating around under the guise of being one of those Outlook Auto-sent deals. Here’s a bit of the warning:

jdbgmgr is a legitimate Windows file and is supposed to be there. Ignore the email warning should you get it.

That is all.

Thanks for that, Turbo Dog – but why does that file have a teddy bear icon? (I had to take a look – and saw th’ bear.) Is this a touch o’ playful Gates?

Anyone who deletes a file from his computer because an email tells him to deserves whatever he gets.

Ice Wolf I have no idea. It’s used to debug Applets, so probably yes, it’s just a cute thing. But it’s the teddy bear that throws people off. If you delete it, the only thing that will happen is some applets may not play. Nothing major, and easily restored.

Another… fine… example of ‘social engineering’. :mad:

Computer programming is way out of my league, but it could be the “teddy bear icon” is a programming thing. I found the following on a site regarding “Programming Humour”:

Bolding mine.

Seeing as jdbgmgr.exe is the Java Debugging Manager – maybe?

Oh, and Symantec have reported emails along the hoax’s lines coming apparently from them, but by virus (such as Magistr).

Lovely people out there, I don’t think! :frowning:

I read about this on C-Net early last week. It is a hoax, and, IIRC, Ice Wolf got it right. jdbgmgr.exe is the Java debugger manager. Perhaps my next thread for IMHO or the Pit should be appropriate punishments for people who spread internet rumors/glurge. :frowning:

CJ

I got that email twice, once from my mother and once from my sister-in-law. I smelled hoax as soon as I read it, and did a little research.
I sent them here for instructions on replacing that file, and scolded them both for listening to a forwarded email.
I was also kind enough to include a link to snopes to help them see through any more internet bullshit they may be tempted to forward to me. :slight_smile:

Fighting ignorance since 9/4/73,
Rose

I got that one twice myself, once from a sister in law who generally knows better. It was so simliar to another one that I’d gotten a few months ago (w/same instructions only icon you needed to look for was a little scarey looking thing), that went around in Cubicle -land. I found (then) the appropriate snopes link and sent that around.
of course, since then, techno-lad at the cubicle place has put in some filters, so “snopes” is no longer available (it trips the word ‘entertainment’). So, won’t be able to prove it’s a hoax when it goes around there.

I had a customer last week who fell for this one. I don’t blame her, though, it is a lot more convincing than most of them out there.

I received at least five emails with this warning from…well meaning…friends :slight_smile:

I had it all ready to delete but at the last moment decided to google the file name, just to see exactly what it was.

So glad I did.

Send them to the CIAC Hoaxbuster’s web site. This doesn’t cover urban legends the way Snopes does, but it does cover very well the fake virus alerts, chain mail hoaxes, etc.

Elsewhere on the site (which is sponsered by the Department of Energy) are warnings for real viruses, trojans and worms.