Panda Virus Alert - Largest Virus Attack Ever

[pic] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Internet is suffering the largest worldwide virus attack ever - As Sobig.F tries to collapse corporate networks, Blaster and Nachi.A are infecting hundreds of thousand of home PCs - The U.S. Department of Defense, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CSX and Air Canada, are just a few of the companies and institutions hit by these viruses Glendale CA, August 21, 2003 - Internet is suffering the largest worldwide virus attack ever. The almost simultaneous appearance of the worms Blaster –and its variants-, Nachi.A and Sobig.F are threatening all types of users, from home users to corporate networks of all topologies. Sobig.F has become the virus that has spread the widest in the shortest time in the history of computer viruses. However, up until now, despite its incredible rate of proliferation, this malicious code has caused fewer incidents than expected. This could be due to the fact that it is being spammed from infected computers and as a result, the probability of a computer being hit by this worm is extremely high. Furthermore, Sobig.F is converting the computers it infects into spam generators, collapsing networks in a matter of minutes. The incredible proliferation rate of Sobig.F is also affecting large institutions and corporations. According to an article published by ZDNET, in just one day the Internet service provider AOL (America Online) has received 11.5 million mail messages infected by this virus. This article also highlights that Sobig.F is affecting institutions and corporations like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Department of Defense. Similarly, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that CSX, the biggest railroad company in the USA, has had to suspend its services in the metropolitan Washington D.C area due to the activity of a computer virus. The activity of Sobig.F is expect to increase when companies recover normal working activity, due to the large number of infected messages that have been accumulating in the mailboxes of web servers over the last few days. At the same time, Blaster and its variants, and the Nachi.A worm are busy attacking home users through the RPC DCOM vulnerability in the Windows operating system. According to data collected by Panda Software’s international technical support services, an extremely large number of computers have been infected by these worms around the globe. However, not only home users are vulnerable to attack from Blaster and Nachi.A, but also corporate users. In fact, as a result of Nachi.A, the airline Air Canada has had to delay or even cancel flights, according to a report published by CNN. Luis Corrons, heads of Panda Software’s Virus Lab believes that: “The appearance of these malicious codes within such a short space of time has significantly increased the probability of a computer being hit. The only way to combat them is by using updated antivirus programs and firewalls; if users are aware of this, the threat will slowly start receding.” In order to avoid falling victim these malicious code, Panda Software reminds users to treat all e-mails received with caution and update their antivirus solutions immediately. The multinational antivirus manufacturer has already released the updates, which ensure their antivirus solutions detect all of these viruses. Therefore, if your software is not configured to update automatically, you can update it from the company’s website at http://www.pandasoftware.com. Similarly, Panda Software offers all users its free PQREMOVE utilities, designed to clean and restore computers affected by dangerous malicious code like Sobig.F or Blaster. These tools can be downloaded from, http://www.pandasoftware.com/downloads/utilities/. ABOUT PANDA SOFTWARE Panda Software (http://www.pandasoftware.com) is the first company to allow truly automatic daily signature updates, as well as centralized administration of antivirus protection, both of which have revolutionized the antivirus industry. On receiving a possibly infected file, Panda Software's technical staff immediately analyzes to determine the threat potential. Depending on the type, the action taken may include: disassembly, macro scanning, code analysis etc. If the file does in fact contain a new virus, the disinfection and detection routines are prepared and quickly distributed to users Panda Software is known for its user-friendly policies, including free telephone support for corporate customers, expanded competitive renewal programs and free disinfection services. All of its products feature exclusive SmartClean™ technology and are endorsed by major industry watchdogs including ICSA Labs and Checkmark. # # # FOR MORE INFORMATION: Alan Wallace Panda Software VP, Corporate Communications US www.pandasecurity.com