Klez, Schmez – MiMail has knocked the "veteran" e-mail worm out of the box as the Internet's fastest-spreading mischief maker. Klez will just have to settle for being second worst, according to MessageLabs.
A week after MiMail premiered as the newest worm in cyberspace, it's pushed Klez – born in April 2002 – to the number two position and is the fastest spreading among the Internet's resident pests.
MessageLabs told CNET Asia August 8 that they've detected over 143,700 copies of MiMail since August 1. The good news: It may still take awhile before MiMail takes the all-time prize, if ever it does, since MessageLabs added that they've seized almost 7.2 million copies of Klez in the last eighteen months.
MiMail is less complex than Klez, with MiMail disguising itself as a message from an ISP system administrator while Klez uses network shares and e-mail combined. Security consultant Daniel Lewkovitz told CNET Asia both worms have been found in far more home computers than business or corporate systems.
"Most domestic users either don't realise that there's more to e-mail security than having up to date anti-virus," Lewkovitz said . "Things like Klez have all but disappeared in the corporate world but are still rampant out there."
