28 Jun 2002
Nimda strikes online gamers
GameSpy, a website that delivers live multiplayer gaming to
thousands of users around the world, has acknowledged that it
unwittingly distributed a virus earlier this week.
Visitors to the GameSpy website who downloaded GameSpy Arcade
1.09, the company's file exchange software, on Tuesday and
Wednesday could have downloaded the W32/Nimda-D virus,
according to GameSpy CEO Mark Surfas.
"This registers with us as a serious, serious error," Surfas
said. "We're pretty upset about it. This is not cool."
According to media reports GameSpy contacted affected users via
email and has removed the infection from their system.
Sophos advises customers that if they have kept their anti-virus
software up to date they should have little to fear as Sophos
Anti-Virus has been capable of protecting against W32/Nimda-D for
over nine months.
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.