Businesses face losing millions of pounds in productivity if they
fail to take a more robust approach to e-mail virus protection,
analysts and industry experts warned following the attack of the
Anna Kournikova virus.
Daniel ThomasCompanies have failed to learn the lessons from last year's
damaging Love Bug virus, analysts said.
The self-replicating virus, which sent itself to every address
book entry when opened, was attached to an e-mail titled "check
this out" which promised pictures of tennis star Kournikova. It is
thought to have originated from an ISP address in the
Netherlands.
As well as mass mailing from an infected system which overloaded
communication channels, the Kournikova virus activated the default
Internet browser and directed it to the Web site of Dynabyte, a
Dutch computer reseller. A Dynabyte spokesman said the virus did
not seriously affect business, but that the company was
investigating reports that the virus had been launched by a
disgruntled former employee.
Last year, the Love Bug virus caused an estimated $10bn (£6.7bn)
in lost business productivity, according to US-based analysts.
"To give an idea of the scale of this thing, one company
received 4,500 of these [Kournikova] e-mails overnight outside
office hours," said Graham Cluley, senior technology officer at
Sophos Anti-Virus.
Cluley advised that firms set up an e-mail gateway stopping any
double extension or VBS file - the Kournikova virus had a JPeg and
VBS file attached - "whether they are viruses or not".
"Companies do not do enough to emphasise the importance of
security," said Tony Lock, an analyst at Bloor Research.
daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk