14 Jul 2000
Sophos calls for calm over Smash virus hype
Sophos, Europe's leading developer of corporate anti-virus
solutions, has advised computer users not to panic over the
W95/Smash virus,
following significant media attention the virus has received as a
result of another anti-virus vendor's press release.
Sophos points out that, although W95/Smash is programmed to
activate today, the virus does not pose a significant threat.
"The average user is more likely to be abducted by the Martians
from the Smash mashed potato advert than get hit by this virus,"
said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos
Anti-Virus. "Not only does this virus not appear to be spreading in
the wild, but most anti-virus products have been protecting against
it since the beginning of May!"
Sophos has published information about the Smash
virus online.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.