Irish virus is not a virus; it is a hoax or an e-mail message, whose content ironically advises users to manually delete files from the hard drive, as a proposed solution to a non-existent virus called Irish virus.

Its aim is to cause alarm and get users to forward the message to all the contacts in the Address Book.

However, in order to avoid problems, users should do the opposite of what the message proposes:

• Never delete files from the hard drive (doing so would have negative consequences).
• Do not forward the message. Delete it immediately.

Irish virus arrives in an apparently normal e-mail message, but which can be identified by its message. The message text always refers to a false virus called Irish virus.