Infamous for 15 minutes
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It is always helpful to keep up to date with security threats. And fortunately, there is an unending supply of weekly reports and alerts from the anti-virus software vendors.
It is always helpful to keep up to date with security threats. And fortunately, there is an unending supply of weekly reports and alerts from the anti-virus software vendors.
Symantec is good at keeping its customers informed. CEO John Thompson has identified two seemingly new dangers to IT security: the 'Warhol' and 'Flash' threats. They seem pretty virulent: a Warhol virus would spread across the Internet in little more than a quarter-of-an-hour (thereby achieving 'fame' in 15 minutes), while a Flash worm could take as little as 30 seconds to wreak similar havoc.
The warning of the threats, however, has taken a little longer to arrive. Nick Weaver at the University of California first described the worm, and coined the Warhol classification, in 2001.
