Christmas virus prompts warnings

Virus protection vendors are warning that the year-old W32.Kriz warrants updating virus protection files. The slow-spreading but potentially ruinous virus has accelerated its own propagation by infecting several e-mail worms. Known as Kris, it remains dormant until December 25 and then attempts to destroy infected computers. About 4,000 new infections have been detected in little more than a month, most in North America.

In related news, a new report covered in The Register indicates that most security patch distribution systems are insecure and subject to subversion by the same malicious coders they are meant to counter.

For more information, see idg.net and zdnn.com. For the security patch story, see theregister.co.uk.