The “balloon boy” story is a testament to keeping your guard up against hoaxes that some are willing to perpetrate to get past your defenses.
Media frenzy
Reports indicated that 6 year old Falcon Heene had climbed into a box attached to a home-made high altitude balloon. Media outlets piled onto the story – CNN, FOX, DRUDGE Report and others all had headlines indicating the balloon was adrift but the box was no longer intact. America was anxiously awaiting to learn the fate of the small child.
Emergency services scrambled
The balloon floated for approximately 50 miles. Emergency responders rushed to the scene as the balloon touched down to search for the young boy. Once they did not find him they activated other teams to expand the search. All this effort was for naught because the child was safely on the ground the entire time.
The joke’s on us
As this story continued to unfold it became apparent that it was a hoax. As details have emerged it has been learned that the parents concocted this scheme for self-promotional purposes. Law enforcement officials are still investigating the case. Sheriff Jim Alderden of Larimer County along with other authorities have indicated that charges may be forthcoming against the parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene:
“Charges have not been filed, but authorities expect to recommend felony charges including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public servant, Alderden said. They also plan to recommend a charge of filing a false police report, which is a misdemeanor.”
Sherriff Alderden said it is unlikely that someone convicted of these charges would face jail time.
Their plan was pretty much a success
Based on the Sherriff’s comments it appears that the Heene’s have accomplished their goal to heavily promote themselves for another reality show without actually getting into a bunch of trouble. They previously appeared on ABC’s “Wife Swap” and had approached other outlets in the past few months about doing another reality show. Based on all the media reports it’s apparent these folks crave the spotlight and were willing to perpetrate this hoax to create the buzz for a new “reality show.”
News such as this can create an “in” for cyber villians
Spammers and cyber-thieves have a way of using these types of news events to push spam out to unsuspecting recipients. Be wary of phishing emails with headline grabbing subjects. Many times there are links that will direct you to an infected site that will infect your computer with a bot net virus, password stealing Trojan, key logger Trojan, or other malware. Don’t fall for these tricks.
Don’t be fooled again
The Heenes may have been able to pull off their hoax with seemingly little consequence. However, you’ll find that if you fall for the spammers bait then the consequences may be quite harmful. Continue to educate your users against the perils of opening spam and Implement Mailprotector’s award winning email security to protect against cyber hoaxes.
