Although many security issues exist, a number of them are not valid. It is difficult to determine which are real, and which are used to distract you from true security holes. For example, you might think you are installing a system level patch, when in reality, you are installing a Trojan horse that captures passwords. An area where hoaxes are prevalent is virus warnings. Often, security administrators spend more time discerning what are hoaxes, than on the real issues.
Hoaxes are time consuming and costly to deal with.
Validated warnings that are sent from the incident response teams have genuine return addresses and are usually digitally signed with the organization's key. You should never install a patch or file from an unknown source, and when installing validated patches, always try them in a test environment first. As individuals and businesses increase information sharing and communication via the Internet, vulnerability to attack or intrusion rises. Authorization, access controls, and confidentiality requirements are some examples of the technological components available in a multi-layered IT security policy. Other important components include education on password secrecy, a corporate security policy, and physical system security.