[ Thursday ]
MyDoom Net Worm Spreads as Attack Countdown Begins
Thu January 29, 2004 08:35 AM ET - from Reuters
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Security experts warned on Thursday the fast-spreading MyDoom virus would plague e-mail users for some time as it counts down to a mammoth digital attack next week on Microsoft and software firm SCO Group Inc.
For a fourth consecutive day, Internet service providers and corporations were bogged down by a crush of infected e-mails.
Security experts said as many as one in three e-mails in circulation was triggered by MyDoom.A, making it the fastest spreading Internet contagion ever.
"We are seeing companies struggling with this as they cannot clear the viruses quickly enough," said Graham Cluley, technology consultant for anti-virus and anti-spam firm Sophos Plc. "This one will be with us for a while."
Meanwhile, sleep-deprived security experts said they were largely powerless to stop the virus's coordinated digital attacks, timed to hit Web sites for SCO (SCOX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Sunday and Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday, security officials said.
"It's very difficult for anti-virus firms to react in these scenarios. We're always going to be on the back foot," said Paul Wood, chief information analyst for British-based e-mail security firm MessageLabs.
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MM [07:35]
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