Last week a came around an interesting “study” done by Secure Computing. What is interesting is to see what people can think about things that they don’t really understand. In many cases it’s probably the Arabic telephone effect that create such monstrosity. If I have one suggestion to say; it’s to read them and discuss about them with persons in your entourage that may think that these urban legends can be true. Remind that one of the best security practice is education; anybody can do it.
There is the list published by Secure Computing:

1. “Hackers can legally break into web sites that lack “warning” notices.”
2. “Some Windows system files are really malicious and should be deleted.”
3. “Hotel card keys secretly record personal information, which could be maliciously taken advantage of without the person knowing.”
4. “Including a fake entry in your e-mail address book will prevent e-mail Trojans.”
5. “A digital cell phone can be infected with a virus merely by answering a phone call.”
6. “Search engine “crawlers” perform security checks and notify you of vulnerabilities.”
7. “Thieves are using lists of “out of office” auto-replies to target homes for burglary.”
8. “Free patches e-mailed to you will protect your PC from the latest worm or viruses.”
9. “Signing up with a “Do Not Spam Registry” will stop you from getting spam.”
10. “Elf Bowling and Blue Mountain Greeting Cards contain viruses.”

Enjoy them, laugh at yourself and think that many people can think that they are real possible treats. Just keep in mind that the situation is normal, otherwise urban legend wouldn’t exists. Then if you’re not sure about a thing that a person tell you; just do some research on a trusted web site and you’ll be able to assess the treat by yourself.