The Hindu : Front Page : ‘One in 28 e-mails reaching India has virus’

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Monday, Sep 10, 2007
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‘One in 28 e-mails reaching India has virus’

Malicious websites on the rise: study

New Delhi: With the Internet becoming the order of life for more and more Indians, who depend on e-mails to stay in touch, their computers are facing an increasing virus threat with one in every 28 e-mails being infected, says a recent study.

A study by the messaging security and management services provider, MessageLabs, reveals that malicious websites are on the rise.

A new virus, StormWorm, which uses virtual postcards and YouTube video for its attack, is affecting computers.

According to the study, 1.8 million computers have been affected by StormWorm worldwide.

Most vulnerable

In August, India was the most vulnerable region in virus attacks, with one in every 27.8 e-mails having been infected. However, during this period, spam attacks (or unsolicited bulk e-mails), accounted for only 29.5 per cent of the total e-mails received, says the study.

It also found that there was a rise in e-mails containing links to virtual postcards and YouTube video invites.

On August 15, there was a significant outburst of new malicious websites comprising 600,000 e-mails, which were distributed in just 24 hours.

As a result of this latest StormWorm activity, the number of e-mails which contained links to malicious code increased to 19.5 per cent in August, a rise of 19 per cent from the July figure of just 0.5 per cent.

The analysis also reveals steep rise in the number of new malicious websites appearing every day. In August, a daily average of 1,772 such new sites were identified and blocked, an average increase of 783 a day since July. — PTI

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