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Many customers and friends of ours have recently received emails prompting them to delete a file which contains a virus - sulfnbk.exe. Out of good intention, many people also have forwarded the email warning to other friends, creating chain emails and mass hysteria.
According to the email, a recipient is asked to delete a file called sulfnbk.exe, located in the folder c:\windows\command. The virus is said to cause damage to your computer on June 1st, 2001.
It is also said that the virus cannot be detected by antivirus software such as Norton Antivirus and McAfee. For safety purpose, the recipient is advised to delete the file by following steps outlined in the email. The recipient is also asked to help her friends by forwarding the email to them.
Well, the file sulfnbk.exe is a Windows file and is not a virus. In technical terms, it is used by Windows to take care of long filenames. It is a Windows program file and by itself, it is not a virus. Therefore, deleting the file may cause disruption to the operation of Windows operating system.
Note: Of course, since sulfnbk.exe is an executable file, it can contain virus if it has been infected by other virus. But the file by itself is not a virus.
The chain emails have been propagated throughout the world and have created a mass hysteria among Internet users, in result of people forwarding to others. You can guess that many recipients of the warnings have really followed the advice and deleted the file, being frightened by the threat.
This kind of false virus warning is often called "virus hoax". The email which contains the false warning often has some characteristics:
If you receive any suspected virus warning, it is advisable to check with web sites of antivirus software to verify. A good source is Symantec Antivirus Research Center at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html.
If you have accidentally delete sulfnbk.exe and would need help to recover it, please refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base or contact us for free guide.
For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the reports on the hoax below: