Y2K May Bring 100 Viruses

[Guest guest]

Computer Currents

Daily News

 

Y2K May Bring 100 Viruses

 

By Kevin Featherly, Newsbytes.

December 10, 1999

 

New virus alerts seem to go out on a daily basis. But Clark Staten, senior

national security analyst with the Chicago- based Emergency Response and

Research Institute (ERRI), says there may be as many as 100 new viruses

unleashed on the computer world by Jan. 1.

 

ERRI is a Chicago-based consultancy that advises corporations and governmental

agencies on issues ranging from the Y2K bug to terrorism.

 

Staten told Newsbytes that, as virus writers seek to exploit the Millennium Bug

for personal notoriety within hacker culture, viruses are likely to

proliferate.

He said that researchers from companies like Network Associates, Symantec, and

McAfee report to his company that Y2K will be a very busy time for virus

writers.

 

"I'm afraid the virus writers just really want to make a name for themselves as

we get to the millennium," Staten said. "I think those who can produce the most

noteworthy virus will, of course, receive some attention from their friends in

that community."

 

Staten said a likely scenario will take place in businesses that already have

undertaken steps toward Y2K compliance. He said it could come down to one

unsuspecting employee, downloading an e-mail or participating in a chat group,

who accidentally infects the company's system. "And it would appear that when

it

fails, because it activates on or about Jan. 1, 2000, that it is a Y2K failure,

when in fact it is a virus infection. I think that's troubling."

 

Viruses that have popped up in the past week have mostly been e-mail borne

viruses with names like W95.Babylonia, Explore.Zip, and Mypics.worm. "We've had

four news ones in the past week, at least," Staten said.

 

Yunsun Wee, senior public relations specialist with Symantec Corp.

[NASDAQ:SYMC], maker of the Norton line of anti-virus software, told Newsbytes

though that, while there have been a number of widely publicized viruses in

recent weeks, their notoriety stems more from their association with Y2K than

with sheer numbers.

 

"On a normal day we get 10 to 15 new viruses," she said, adding that most are

relatively innocuous programs sent out by writers who are typically between the

ages of 14 and 24. Most of them get no publicity, she said. "The (virus

creators) are just writing to say, 'Hey, look what I can do!' It's not for

malicious purposes."

 

Wee said that Symantec is not projecting the number of viruses it expects will

pop up as Y2K approaches. But she did say, "We are expecting more, there's no

doubt about that." Staten said there is no way to predict what forms viruses

may

take as developers work harder to increase their complexity on the way to New

Year's Day. The primary way to guard against infection, he said, is by

frequently updating the anti-virus software operating in terminals.

 

"The rapidly expanding number of viruses is changing day to day. And when you

see three to four of them a week, we call that a pattern," he said.