Virus-ridden UK spread email nasties

The UK is one of the focal points of world email virus activity - and it is members of the public that are causing the problem.

A report from antivirus service provider MessageLabs found that UK companies received over 25 per cent of all intercepted email viruses in August, second only to the US.

Three per cent of emails monitored contained a potentially harmful payload.

About one in 40 emails to retail and leisure companies were infected, with legal and finance companies getting less than one in 400.

Klez.H is still the most common virus, accounting for over two thirds of all viruses detected.

"The leisure and retail sectors are those with most contact with the general public and as such are most vulnerable," said Mark Sunner, chief technology officer at MessageLabs.

"Klez.H is now very rare among companies but in the last day we've had 20,000 new cases, mainly from Hotmail, Freeserve and AOL domains," he added.

Fewer than half of UK homes own antivirus software, and of those only a minority update it regularly, according to Symantec.