28 Mar 2001
Windows/Linux virus poses low threat
Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection, today
advised its customers that a cross-platform virus which can infect
both Windows and Linux systems poses only a very low threat.
The W32/Lindose virus (also
known as Elf/Lindose or Winux) can infect both Windows PE (Portable
Executable) and Linux ELF file formats, but to date there have been
no reports of any sightings of the virus in the wild.
"Despite some media reports the virus is far from
sophisticated," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "Interest in the virus
has been generated by an anti-virus vendor issuing a press release
about it - rather than any genuine threat."
Sophos advises customers to subscribe to its email notification service to be
automatically advised on new in-the-wild virus threats.
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.