In ancient times, the Greeks offered a giant horse as a gift to their enemies in the city of Troy. Greek soldiers hidden in the horse destroyed the city. Computer versions of Trojan horses act in a similar way, masquerading as benign applications. Once inside your computer system, they can destroy your data. If you hear about a new computer virus, don't get too excited.
Many computer viruses turn out to be hoaxes or myths.
Hoaxes are fake alerts about viruses that don't exist, often distributed by anonymous pranksters via email. On The Run . If you want to see these virus myths presented with a sense of humor, visit the edgy Computer Virus Myths site. The Web is a great resource for information about viruses and hoaxes. You can also use the Web to find protective software for your computer.