By Pia Heikkila, 2 June 2000 00:25
NEWS Europe's leading anti-virus companies are calling for the establishment of a unified virus grading system to prevent the media from spreading hype and misinformation about new attacks. According to security experts, the media is to blame for creating unnecessary panic after the FBI posted an alert about the 'Resume - Janet Simmons' virus last bank holiday weekend. Kevin Street, technical manager at Symantec, wants to see an independent, centralised organisation controlling the dissemination of security information. He said: "A vendor-independent body should be in place which weeds out the true hazards from minor viruses. A subscription-based grading system would allow companies and the media to access a global system whereby threats could be made scalable." Mikko Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research at Finnish security company F-Secure, blames in-fighting between vendors for the lack of unified alerts. According to Hypponen, open communication between virus experts is not always practical for reasons of competition. He told silicon.com: "Security companies are too protective over new virus alerts as they want to be the first ones to provide their customers with protection from the attackers." Dave Ball, European vice president of marketing at Computer Associates, praised the media for raising awareness. He said: "Any attention to corporate security issues is important." But Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos claimed the media has acted irresponsibly in the past. "There are some in the media who find it very easy to just take what the anti-virus vendor has said on face value, rather than seeking other opinions about the size of a threat," he said.
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