17 Oct 2001
Anthrax: Anti-virus companies hype up non-threat
A number of customers have contacted Sophos technical support
concerned by media reports of a new computer virus called "Anthrax"
or "Antrax".
Sophos Anti-Virus has been capable of detecting the virus, known
as VBS/VBSWG-2B, generically for some months and we do not believe
it presents a threat to our customer base.
VBS/VBSWG-2B has been written using a version of the virus
construction kit known as the Visual Basic Script Worm Generator. A
different version of the same construction kit was used by the
author of the Anna
Kournikova worm. Because Sophos Anti-Virus researchers have
analysed the construction kit, customers are automatically
protected against viruses created using the kit, even before they
have been analysed in our laboratory.
"It is disappointing to see some of our competitors hyping up a
virus like this, particularly in the current political climate,"
said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos
Anti-Virus. "Anti-virus companies should act responsibly when it
comes to virus alerts. Sadly, on this occasion, it's possible that
the only thing which will spread is greater confusion and panic
amongst the public."
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.