IBM says more viruses and worms expected in 2005

It was just a coincidence that the latest report from IBM landed so close to the latest patch releases by the software giant Microsoft for their Operating Systems and applications. However, users might not be pleased to hear what IBM has to say. On Wednesday, the computer industry giant IBM released a report claiming that Viruses and worms are likely to more aggressively attack handheld devices, cell phones and embedded computers in cars.

The year 2004 was dominated by worms and viruses, which circulated through email and instant messengers. During the last days of the last year, we saw the emergence of the viruses, which started affecting mobile devices and PDAs. Cabir made big headlines that affected devices loaded with Symbian Operating System. Similar sort of worms are expected to become a regularity in the current year as security agencies now focus towards Anti-Virus applications for mobiles.

Stuart McIrvine, director of IBM’s security strategy addressed the media and said: “After a year like 2004, many IT departments feel beaten down from combating viruses like MyDoom and Netsky. However, through sophisticated intelligence gathering and analysis, IBM can now identify and understand many of these risks. In addition, businesses and consumers can use this information to help them to not only anticipate these security risks, but more importantly, to prepare themselves to avoid a new breed of attacks in 2005.”