“It’s a war out there”
Matthew Woolley, chairman of indie retail trade association ITACS and owner of Forum Computers in Lincoln (pictured) is to be interviewed by BBC radio to bring attention to a computer virus he's seeing with increasing frequency.
The Antivirus 2009 virus is the latest in a sequence of malware attacks that cheekily masquerade as the exact opposite of what they are. Typically they manifest themselves as a window that warns of malware infection and urges the user to click on a link to resolve the problem. Of course, once the link is clicked on the host becomes fully infected.
Woolley says he's seen over 40 infections in the last three to four weeks alone and he deals mainly with just the Lincoln area. He will appear on You And Yours on Radio 4 today and Breakfast on Radio 5 Live tomorrow, with the aim of bringing wider attention to the problem. For the BBC to take such an interest it must be assumed that the problem is pretty widespread.
"It's about time the IT industry started warning Joe Public about current threats, especially one this big," Woolley told HEXUS.channel. "It's a war out there and we are fighting it every day. I hope to pass the message to the millions of listeners of Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live.
We would like to hear from the HEXUS.community about any experiences you have had with this virus or any like it and what steps you took to remedy the situation.