10/10/10 internet virus rumour debunked

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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Rumours have spread across the internet that a computer virus will strike computers at 10:10am on 10 October 2010 (or, if you prefer, 10:10 10/10/10).

It’s just the kind of scare that people love to murmur about, and share with their online friends, but I’m afraid it has no basis in fact.

As I explain in The Daily Telegraph today, focusing on particular dates is not the way to keep your computer protected against malware attack.

The truth is that there is malicious software which triggers every day of the year – so worrying about one particular date or time is actually counter-productive, as it implies that you should take less care on other dates.

The reason why the 10th October has received a little more attention is because of the cute quirk of the numbers reading 10/10/10. But even that’s not a new idea. For instance, in the run-up to March 3…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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