Sunday January 13, 2002

The Observer

Computer viruses on the internet have risen fivefold in the past two years, with one security firm now finding a bug on clients' servers every 30 seconds on average *.

British analysts have examined emails sent and received in the UK and found that one in 300 is infected, compared with one in 1, 500 in 1999 *. More than 400 new viruses are created every month, experts say.

Security firm Messagelabs has warned of a surge in the number of viruses infecting clients' computers.While internet traffic has risen, it discovered that viruses were growing at a faster rate *.

Steve Trilling, director of research at the anti-virus company Symantec Security Response, said the situation would worsen dramatically as technology improved. ‘New technologies will help these viruses become more dangerous. The potential danger to the internet and economy is greater than ever, ’ he said.

Last year the Government's internet security service, Uniras, issued a record 26 alerts - high-level warnings about viruses that threaten the national infrastructure – three times as many as in 2000 *. It also issued a record 260 emergency briefings about virus threats.

Messagelabs said the rise was often due to the increased life-span of a virus. 'We see old viruses again and again that never seem to die out, ' said Alex Shipp, its chief antivirus technologist. ‘They keep propagating themselves to stay alive.'

The potency of viruses has also increased. Richard Saunders, a spokesman for Symantec, said the greatest problem were 'blended threats' – viruses that used a variety of techniques to infiltrate a system. These include bombarding a computer with emails and leaving a secret program behind to cause damage later.

Last week it was revealed that computer viruses cost firms more than £ 18 billion globally in 2001. Independent researchers Computer Economics said the 'Love Bug' and 'Code Red II' viruses had caused considerable damage.

Vocabulary List

fivefold – впятеро, в пятикратном размере

life-span – продолжительность жизни

blended – смешанный

to reveal – выявлять, обнаруживать

 

2. Find confirmation of the right statements in the text. Correct wrong statements.

 

3. Reformulate the sentences marked *.

 

4. Give a summary of the text.

 

5. What is your opinion of viruses? Have you ever encountered them?

Topics for Essays, Oral or Written Reports

1. What are computer viruses and how do they differ?

2. What makes a perfect virus?

3. A day in the life of the virus hunter.

4. Will the computer apocalypse be?

Саn you do a better translation?