Anger at 'overblown' virus warning

Antivirus experts have accused rival vendor Panda Software of "scaremongering" after it warned of the spread of a virus more deadly than the Love Bug.

On Friday, Spanish company Panda warned that the HTML/LittleDavinia worm had already infected at least five European companies, resulting in a "serious loss of data". A Panda spokesman told vnunet.com that the virus was potentially more dangerous than last year's devastating Love Bug.

However, despite the stark warning, posted on its website late on Friday, Panda failed to share any information about the virus with any other antivirus companies until lunchtime today [Monday]. This prompted an angry response from Panda's rivals.

Jack Clark, European product manager at antivirus company Network Associates, told vnunet.com that of the company's 70 million customers, he had heard of only one report of a US user who had a copy of the virus.

"We are not talking outbreak here. If it's as serious as Panda says, it would have kicked off here this morning. If five major European companies were to have been infected by this, it would have mailed itself out before it destroyed data," he said.

"We try very hard not to over-alert, and reports like this do alarm our customers. It doesn't do the antivirus industry any favours when an alert is issued without consulting other companies. Panda should do more research with other companies before issuing an alert of this magnitude."

Eric Chien, chief researcher at Symantec, said: "We have had zero reports from customers or other antivirus vendors. We aren't too concerned and don't think it is spreading. If the top three antivirus companies in Europe have no reports of it, especially at this point more than three days after it was posted, then no-one has got it."

He added: "It's a little bit annoying when companies don't share information about viruses, as it makes it difficult for us to protect people and provide them with information, especially if it's a real-world threat."

Chien said he had just received a sample of the virus and was now able to work on developing a fix.

Panda is a member of various industry forums, including the Revs (Rapid Exchange of Virus Samples) group, in which it is common practice for antivirus companies to share with each other information about new viruses before issuing alerts. This enables all companies to work on fixes to ensure their customers are protected.