http://www.kumite.com/myths
Tell friends & colleagues about virus hoaxes the easy way
MYTH: "so-called 'boot sector' viruses travel primarily via software downloaded from BBSs & the Internet"
Reality:
This claim expounds on the supposed role bulletin boards and the Internet play in spreading infections.
Boot sector viruses spread only if you
- directly copy an infected floppy disk, OR
- try to "boot" a computer from an infected disk, OR
- use a floppy in an infected computer, OR
- in rare cases, execute software containing a 'multi-partite' virus.
BBSs and the Internet deal exclusively with program files; they don't pass along copies of boot sectors. Bulletin
board & Internet users thus benefit from a natural immunity to boot sector viruses via downloaded
software. And since almost all boot-sector infections spread via floppy disk boot sectors, this fact alone
exonerates the BBS/Internet community as the so-called "primary" source for their spread.
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