Bugbear to set new virus record

The Bugbear computer virus may be spreading more slowly this week than last, but it's still on track to be the most prolific e-mail virus to date, antivirus experts said on Monday.

Last week, e-mail service provider MessageLabs intercepted 320,000 missives containing the Bugbear attachment, more than the Klez.h virus managed in its first week in April. Klez.h has created the most-ever Internet traffic so far.

Bugbear "seems to be picking up quite a bit in the United States," said Angela Hauge, technical director for MessageLabs. "I would say that it's rampant." On Monday, Bugbear-infected PCs sent out nearly 38,000 e-mails, according to the company's Web site.

While MessageLabs can't measure the number of infected computers on the Internet, it can tally the number of e-mails sent by such computers and routed through its systems to the company's 700,000 customers. That data gives an indication of how prevalent a virus has become.

In June, Klez.h hit MessageLabs' millionth message mark, a first for a computer virus, the company said.

News source: ZDNet