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Antivirus firm
predicts bug flood Virus attacks may
triple by the end of the year, according to research from British
antivirus software company MessageLabs, which projected that government
departments and companies will collapse under the weight of malicious
e-mail attachments. The research indicates
virus incidents will increase dramatically over the coming year. Within
government offices, the number of virus incidents is predicted to rise 222
percent, with e-mail use increasing just 62 percent by comparison. A similarly worrying
situation is predicted for the commercial sector. The manufacturing
industry can expect virus outbreaks to increase 234 percent with e-mail
use up only 124 percent, and the media sector will see 219 percent more
viruses this year, with a 137 percent increase in e-mail usage. The figures are
extrapolated from the increase in virus incidents MessageLabs customers
saw between January 2000 and February 2001. In this time, MessageLabs says
it scanned more than 50 million e-mail messages for viruses. "The
figures are disturbing," said MessageLabs Chief Technical Officer
Mark Sunner. "Although the use of e-mail continues to flourish, and
awareness of viruses increases, we aren't seeing a proportional rise in
effective virus protection." Many virus experts
blame virus outbreaks on a lack of common sense among Internet users, but
Sunner said that companies can't afford to rely on educating users.
"It is unrealistic to expect employees to be wholly responsible for
stopping viruses by updating antivirus software," he said. "The
figures show that there are now just too many viruses and virus variants
out there for traditional (antivirus) software to cope with," he
added. Graham Cluley, head of
virus research at another Brtish antivirus software company, Sophos, said
it's not time to panic. "I think that predictions that it will mean
the end of industry are pessimistic," he said. "I don't think
there is any scientific evidence that the situation is going to get
radically worse than it is now." Staff writer Will
Knight reported from London.
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