Virus warning: It's getting worse

So congratulations and arise SirCam. Champion virus of 2001. And bad luck to BadTrans, Code Red and Nimda which were roundly thrashed into second, third and fourth place by the feisty worm.

2001 has been the year of the virus, the security vendors tell us. During the last 12 months the worms, Trojans and viruses have got nastier, more sophisticated and ever more plenteous.

Funlove, Goner and Magistr also became household names this year as they clogged up servers and home computers alike.

A security expert told silicon.com today that the future's not bright for security and that virus writers will continue to increase in number and sophistication.

As the volume of internet traffic and email continues to rise, so will opportunities for malware to spread and deliver their destructive payloads.

In 2000, one in every 700 emails contained a virus, in 2001 it was one in every 350. MessageLabs detected 10 times as many this year as last.

Since starting to write this our anti-virus software has sent two emails informing that that two people have sent potential viruses (BadTrans and SirCam, if you're interested).

The busiest months of 2001 for viruses were November and December - the problem is getting worse.

The solutions to the virus threat have been told time and time again and all revolve around one issue: responsibility.

There needs to be more responsible behaviour from software companies to improve security and plug the holes. The creation of an open forum announced earlier this week is a definite positive step forward.

But also, users need to make a stand and take responsibility for the way they deal with their electronic communication. And it's the employers that should be offering the education on this.

The virus threat is something we need to eradicate immediately, because if you thought 2001 was bad, just wait until 2002.

For related news, see:
2001: Year of the Virus
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