Sophos, one of the world's leading anti-virus developers, has
questioned the policy of companies shutting down email servers to
protect against Y2K computer viruses.
Amongst heightened hysteria regarding "Y2K viruses" from some
anti-virus companies, the FBI, and self-appointed security experts,
organisations such as the Swiss Federal Government have announced
they will be shutting down their email servers for 4 days over
Y2K.
Some banks in South Africa claim to have already shut down their
email connections, and say they won't resurface until January
5th.
"The truth is that viruses infect companies every single day of
the year - the Y2K period is no different" said Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus, "If shutting
down email systems to prevent the spread of viruses really makes
sense then why not shut down your email system 365 days a year?
It's disappointing to see so many companies falling for Y2K virus
hype."
Sophos believes there is simply no evidence that viruses will be
any more of a problem on January 1st than any other day of the
year. Sophos encourages companies to practice safe computing and
keep their anti-virus products up to date.
Sophos presented a paper, "Is there a Y2K virus problem?" at the
Virus Bulletin conference in Vancouver earlier this year which
debates many of these issues, and scrutinizes the hyperbole.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.