Computer security expert shoots down '10/10/10' fears

Computer security firm Sophos has shot down rumors that a "10/10/10" virus will strike computers at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday -- October 10, 2010.

"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," Sophos' Graham Cluley wrote in a blog post.

"Focusing on particular dates is not the way to keep your computer protected against malware attack," Cluley said.

"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," he said.

"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," he said.

"But even that's not a new idea. For instance, in the run-up to March 3 2003, I had to debunk rumours that the Internet would stop working at 03/03/03," Cluley said.

"The 10/10/10 rumour, just like the 03/03/03 one, is utter codswallop."

(c) 2010 AFP