Not only is Netsky.D said to be tapering off, but the latest worm to hit the Internet's e-mail systems may have been more of a prank than a threat: The worm made infected computers play a jingle for three hours early March 2.
So said Finnish security company F-Secure, which cautioned that the worm was still generating millions of infected e-mails around the world. "It seems to have leveled out now, and it won't reach the high levels that we initially expected," F-Secure antivirus research chief Mikko Hyppoenen told reporters.
The sound played if Netsky.D is opened is a rapid-fire, somewhat melodic beeping similar to a sound effect of older science fiction movies and music recordings.
Netsky.D is said to carry no expiration date.
Hypponen cautioned that while Netsky.D might be benign and even prankish, it is still out in cyberspace in volume enough. And, as if that weren't enough, yet another variant of Bagle has appeared. Between the two of them plus any lingering worms from recent weeks, about ten percent of European e-mails were said to be contaminated by bugs, mostly Netsky.D but several others as well, F-Secure said.
Hypponen said one factor in Netsky.D's and others' drop in spreading was computer techs updating antivirus software on corporate networks quickly and filtering all e-mail attachments suspected of carrying the worms.
