Security news
Security news29 December 1999
Sophos questions email shutdown against "Y2K viruses"
Sophos, one of the world's leading anti-virus developers, has questioned the policy of companies shutting down email servers to protect against Y2K computer viruses.
Amongst heightened hysteria regarding "Y2K viruses" from some anti-virus companies, the FBI, and self-appointed security experts, organisations such as the Swiss Federal Government have announced they will be shutting down their email servers for 4 days over Y2K.
Some banks in South Africa claim to have already shut down their email connections, and say they won't resurface until January 5th.
"The truth is that viruses infect companies every single day of the year - the Y2K period is no different" said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus, "If shutting down email systems to prevent the spread of viruses really makes sense then why not shut down your email system 365 days a year? It's disappointing to see so many companies falling for Y2K virus hype."
Sophos believes there is simply no evidence that viruses will be any more of a problem on January 1st than any other day of the year. Sophos encourages companies to practice safe computing and keep their anti-virus products up to date.
Sophos presented a paper, "Is there a Y2K virus problem?" at the Virus Bulletin conference in Vancouver earlier this year which debates many of these issues, and scrutinizes the hyperbole.
