Viruses are sometimes designed to change or destroy computer data. Knowingly spreading a computer virus is a crime under common law and under specific laws in various states.
Many people see and retransmit virus alerts.
The majority of these alerts turn out to be fakes and in most cases are no need for alarm. Experts recommend trying to verify information like this before passing it along, as most of the virus warnings seem to be bogus. They can be checked through Computer Incident Advisory Capability service of the Department of Energy. If you wish to better protect yourself against a possible computer virus, you may wish to consider a downloading and installing an anti-virus program. Many such programs are available for free trial on the Internet.