(Japanese Site)
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| Reports of Computer Viruses Decline Substantially
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May 13, 1998 (TOKYO) -- The Information Technology Promotion
Agency (IPA) said that 133 cases of computer virus damage were
reported in Japan in April, or 33.5 percent fewer than in the
same month a year earlier.
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It was the lowest figure since April 1997. This is the first time
since February 1997 that the number of cases reported to the IPA
each month declined in comparison with the previous year. As the
first year-on-year decrease for fourteen months, the latest
figures indicate that virus damage may be subsiding.
From April 1997, when macro virus infections through document
files first started to create havoc, over 200 cases of virus
damage were reported every month until January 1998, except for
December when the number of working days was lower than usual.
The record of over 200 monthly damage reports was broken for two
months in a row, however, with 145 cases reported in February and
177 in March, followed in April by the lowest figure for a year.
When macro viruses first appeared, damage spread rapidly because
anti-virus software packages were powerless to prevent them and
infection was readily transmitted through email attachments and
other means.
Virus damage is now much less evident, following advances that
anti-virus software vendors have made in products that can
protect computers against macro virus infections. Some software
companies claim that they can develop and provide a vaccine
within 48 hours of the appearance of a new type of virus.
Related story : Computer Virus Reports in Japan Stay Below 200
(Hi-Tech News Center)
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