PC 'virus season' starts

The headlines are saying things like "Worm wreaking havoc," and GovTech.net dubbed this the start of the PC virus season. But if your family Windows PC has the latest patch , you should be ok (see my alert). [Households with broadband connections should never hesitate, however, to get the latest patch or turn on Microsoft's automated patching, and should always have anti-virus software and a firewall running.] What appears to be happening this week, as Reuters reports, is a kind of gang war in cyberspace. Citing Finnish security firm F-Secure, Reuters says "worms that have brought down systems around the world in recent days are starting to attack each other." One worm gets into an unprotected PC and destroys a rival worm! F-Secure says three "virus-writing gangs" are "competing to build the biggest network of infected machines." Not comforting news, but Reuters also reports that Microsoft and top anti-virus companies Symantec and McAfee said damage to systems had been limited and "was unlikely to cause widespread havoc." Meanwhile, Apple has patched more than 40 critical vulnerabilities in its latest patch, ZDNET UK reports. For more on all this, see "Hackers and crackers out to enslave your machine" in the Sunday Tribune (in South Africa) and my "UK: No. 1 in family 'zombie' PCs."