Elf Bowling: Virus or Virus Hoax?

Dear Guide:
      Got a virus "warning" about the Xmas Day virus on Elfbowl.exe, etc. I checked your site and found that it was listed as false, so I replied to the emails saying it was a hoax. However, the sender called me to say her husband had checked a version of the Elfbowl, and had indeed found a virus. Do you know of anything more on this? Is it real or is it a real hoax?

Dear Reader:
      I'm glad you asked, because it gives me the opportunity to make a very important point about viruses and virus warnings in general.
      For those who don't know, scary alerts about the Elf Bowling and Frogapult programs (game manufacturer NVision Design's two most popular downloads) have been circulating for the past week. The leading antivirus labs have examined copies of both programs but have not found a single instance of infection. All have labeled the virus scare a hoax (see Symantec's report for an example).
      This means you can confidently download either file from its original Web location (http://www.nstorm.com) and run it without fear of infection.
      But – and this is a very important "but" – it doesn't mean that someone, somewhere mightn't have tinkered with one of these programs (or given some other infected program one of these file names) and sent it out attached to an email. Infected files with these names could very easily exist or be created.
      Which brings us to the crucial point: while you're perfectly safe downloading these files from Nvision Design's official Website, you're never safe downloading email attachments (or files from random spots on the Web) unless you scan such files religiously with up-to-date antivirus software before running them.
      To put it another way: there are tens of thousands of confirmed viruses in existence. If you're not careful, any of these could show up on your computer under any name and infect your system. Therefore, being careful about what you download and from where, as well as using adequate virus protection at all times, are much more important than worrying about whether or not every virus alert that comes down the pike is authentic.
      So, to return to your question: the alerts about Elfbowl.exe are indeed hoaxes. However, if you have downloaded this or any other file from a source other than the manufacturer, you would still be well-advised to scan it for viruses as a precaution.
      The only sure way to protect yourself is to practice "safe computing" all the time.

Relevant links:

Hoax Examples
Courtesy of About.com's Antivirus Software Guide

Analysis from Symantec
"The program mentioned in the virus hoax exists but does not contain a virus."

Analysis from Stiller Research
"We have seen no instances where these programs are infected."

Antivirus Software
Expert guidance from About.com's Antivirus Guide

Kewlbox
New games from the original creators of Elf Bowling

Current Net Hoaxes
Recent Features

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