The publication of the Network Box guide comes as information security threats; notably internet scams and hacking attacks, continue to diversify - something that Simon Heron, Network Box's internet security analyst, says is likely to continue for some time.
The guide, Heron says, has been designed to help IT managers educate their users on common hoaxes, as well as techniques for IT managers - and indeed information security managers - to identify and shore up any vulnerabilities in their security systems.
"Many hackers have moved on from attacking mainstream applications because they are too well protected and IT managers are too smart for them" said Network Box's Heron.
But now, Heron adds, there's a new goldmine available in the number of unsecured applications that are developed thanks to Web 2.0 technologies and virtual machine software.
According to Network Box's Heron, the guide looks at the different kind of common attacks, with examples of each, and simple ways for IT managers and employees to avoid falling victim to them.
The "hacks" section of the guide looks at attacks through application vulnerabilities and SQL attacks, and gives a number of examples of high profile recent hacks, including the attack on hosting company, Vaserv.com, which Network Box says had more than 100 000 websites deleted from its servers.
The 'hoaxes' section of the guide, meanwhile, gives the example of a e-banking login page on a fake Natwest banking site, and compares it to the legitimate site - side-by-side - to show how sophisticated the forgeries are.
The guide makes a number of recommendations, including advising users to look out for an 's' in the http address bar, to indicate that secure sockets layer encryption is being used.
Heron says that the most important thing that any company can do is to ensure its users are aware of these scams.
That way, he adds, they are less likely to fall victim to them and put themselves, as well as their company networks, at risk.
A free copy of the 'Hacks, Hoaxes and Horrors' guide can be downloaded here...