Virus alerts 'as bad as spam'

Alerts generated by antivirus software are as bad as the spam advertising messages that clog up users' email accounts, according to an industry analyst.

"Many email security products or services will warn you if they detect a virus in an incoming message. The problem is that these days, most virus-infected email is sent not by users, but by other viruses," said Richi Jennings, an analyst at Ferris Research.

"It's effectively spam. The viruses will often use the same lists of recipients as spammers do and there's no point in contacting the 'sender' of the message because it's probably forged."

Nick Bowman, a spokesman at antivirus vendor McAfee, said: "He's right in that an antivirus product that notifies the sender or recipient of infection would indeed be creating extra traffic, and he's right that many viruses use spoofing with the same net effect." 

However, Bowman explained that any good security vendor would not automatically forward notifications to cut down on the amount of traffic.

"Antivirus products can be configured to notify senders and recipients if they want, but it's not something that McAfee recommends," he said.

"What Richi's talking about has been highlighted and addressed at least two to three years ago. It hasn't been an issue for some time."

See also:

McAfee virus update wreaks havoc

Update quarantines or deletes legitimate system files  14 Mar 2006

Netsky still top of the virus charts

February a quieter month overall as more users update definitions  02 Mar 2006

New virus closes PC/Windows Mobile gap

Proof-of-concept worm leaps across platforms  28 Feb 2006

Sophos sees OS X virus ghosts

Anti-virus software mistakes real applications for pests, breaks systems  22 Feb 2006

Viruses cost UK consumers £3bn a year

Average cost of £261 prompts many home users to ditch their PC and buy a new one  31 Jan 2006

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