Beware November 24: Black Monday for malware?

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 19 November 2008 01:11

Your IT - Home IT

One security vendor is warning that next Monday - November 24 - is likely to bring the year's highest incidence of online attacks. Should we batten down the hatches or turn our computers off?

PC Tools says an analysis of data collected from ThreatFire users suggests that we are about to see a peak in the number of computers being exposed to malware.

ThreatFire is PC Tool's behaviour-based anti-malware program, available in free (for personal use) and paid versions. It is intended to be used in conjunction with conventional signature-based security products.

The company's assertion is based on the fact that the 2007 peak occurred on the Monday before the US Thanksgiving holiday.

But not everyone's convinced by PC Tools' reasoning.

"This isn’t just drivel, it’s dangerous drivel," according to Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at rival security vendor Sophos.

"Half-baked guesswork about if a day in the future might be a bad one for malware attacks has about as much science behind it as examining chicken entrails," he added.

So what's the significance of this time of year? See page 2.