4th May 2004 Hitwise, the global leader in real-time competitive intelligence, today reports that the Sasser worm has seen a significant increase in visits to anti-virus websites.
The first version of the worm was discovered on 1st May and since then has spread widely, causing havoc across the globe. In the UK, British Airways check-in desks and the computer system used by all UK coastguard stations have been severely affected. Unlike email viruses that spread only when infected attachments are opened, a PC becomes infected once connected to the Internet. The fear is that domestic broadband users will be the next victims of this highly infectious virus.
Since the day the Sasser worm was first discovered, anti-virus websites have experienced huge surges in visits:
Sophos (www.sophos.com) increased its ranking from around 1500th position in the Hitwise rankings to 450th most visited website in the UK.
Symantec Security Response (http://securityresponse.symantec.com) entered the top 100 most visited websites in the UK yesterday, rising from position 293 to become the 78th most visited website.
McAfee (www.uk.mcafee.com) jumped 10 places to 31st position amongst all sites.
About Hitwise
Hitwise is the world's leading provider of online competitive intelligence services. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories.
By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights into how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment in efforts such as affiliate programs, search marketing, online advertising, content development and lead generation.
Hitwise collects Internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in mega panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Founded in 1998, Hitwise is a privately held company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and operates in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
www.hitwise.co.uk
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Jannie Cahill
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com
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