Press release October 17, 2002
1000 Virus Attacks in 3 MonthsSpot check carried out among SaferSurf users showed alarming result
After the automatic protection against viruses and unwanted dialers – SaferSurf – had been available since May 2002, Nutzwerk made representative spot checks about how many viruses attacked users from the internet or per eMail. The evaluation was based on 600 testers over a period of 3 months. The survey was done completely anonymous, only the user name for the authentification with the SaferSurf service was used.
The result of the spot checks showed big differences. Some users received several dozens of viruses per day, while other users only caught very few viruses from the internet. In addition there was an increase in the occurrence of so-called exploits. Exploits are security gaps in the Internet Explorer and the eMail program Outlook that are used by malware.
Separately it was examined if the new dangerous dialer network (see press release "New Generation of Automatic Dialers") is spreading. All in all more than a hundred times SaferSurf prevented the transmission of the dialer DLL. This DLL installs itself unnoticed on the user computer and enables a dialer to establish an expensive phone connection via an ordinary internet page.
"This security check is showing once again that viruses and dialers are still a big problem in the internet", says René Holzer, CEO of Nutzwerk and inventor of the real-time data filter SaferSurf.
"Especially unsuspecting users frequently fall victim to unwanted dialers. The installation, configuration and updates of dialer alerts is simply too much for them. The protection has to set in before the dialer is loaded", says Heiko Rittelmeier about the current security problems. This statement is supported by an AOL survey that showed that 45 percent of the users do not have the technical knowledge to protect themselves effectively.
Nutzwerk offers free security tests for the Internet Explorer and Outlook. This way every internet user can check how safe or unsafe his computer is when he is surfing the internet. During the first evaluation it became obvious that more than 85 percent of the users are not protected against viruses and dialers from the internet. The security tests are supported by the online services against computer fraud, www.dialerhilfe.de and www.computerbetrug.de, that have made it their business to warn against the dangers of the internet and to educate the users.
Security tests on the internet:
Internet browser: http://www.safersurf.com/english/computerbetrug/test_browser.html
eMail program: http://www.safersurf.com/english/computerbetrug/test_email.html
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 Viruses and dialers are still a big problem in the internet.   |
