The MyDoom Boom
VARs last week said they were scrambling to provide antivirus and antispam products, newer offerings focused on internal security and general security assessment services after being inundated with calls from customers hit hard by the virus.
"We were in an evaluation period with one customer for a McAfee e500 solution, but when the virus broke I got a call saying, 'I have a [vice president] breathing down my neck over MyDoom. Let's skip the evaluation period and get this done,' " said Tim Morgan, director of consulting services at Technology Integration Group, a solution provider in San Diego.
VARs said the widespread outbreak underscored the need for businesses of all sizes to invest in more proactive security services.
MYDOOM, BY THE NUMBERS
>> On Tuesday, Jan. 27, an ISP partner of McAfee intercepted 2 million infected e-mails. The ISP intercepted an additional 3.5 million infected e-mails by midday Wednesday.
>> On Wednesday, McAfee reported 7,000 newly infected PCs between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. PST, and the company reported 12,000 more infected PCs between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
>> As of last Wednesday, the number of infected PCs was 20 times more than the Sobig outbreak, according to McAfee.
"We've received calls from customers asking us for antivirus and antispam proposals, consulting advice on best practices and on policy management, how to lock down desktops, intrusion prevention and patch management," said Michele Drolet, CEO of security specialist Conqwest, Holliston, Mass.
As of last Thursday, the solution provider had uncovered 75 new variants of various viruses, one of which is designed to steal passwords, she said.
Although the virus was widely considered to be the worst attack ever, VARs said they were able to handle the rash of calls from clients.
Historically, public virus outbreaks have helped spur security sales. Symantec experienced a record sales quarter following the summer virus outbreaks, most notably the Sobig virus.
Westcon Group, Tarrytown, N.Y., saw a similar spike in sales in the industry. Joseph Nicoletti, senior security product manager at Westcon Group, North America, predicts that more customer prospects will start looking into internal security products vs. perimeter solutions as a result of this latest outbreak. "This virus bypassed perimeter solutions, so I think it will make people realize that they need internal security measures to protect against people getting infected on the road and then plugging into the network," Nicoletti said.
Solution providers also say the outbreak has provided them with an opportunity to re-pitch solutions.
"When clients call us now, we are saying, 'Remember when we said you should have an integrated concept to security beyond just the desktop, antivirus or a firewall?' " said Brian Okun, director of marketing for Chips Computer Consulting, Lake Success, N.Y.
A new, more threatening variant of the virus, containing code to initiate denial-
of-service attacks against Microsoft, SCO Group and antivirus sites, among others, has emerged with no apparent effect as of press time. However, solution providers say the threat will continue to buoy security sales.
The virus could also boost sales of antispam products, they said, since the original MyDoom/Novarg virus and the new variant open a back door allowing spammers to take over an infected system and send out bulk e-mails.