Virus warning: UK wakes up to Netsky.Peak

Reports are pouring in of UK companies waking up to a barrage of emails resulting from the Netsky variant P hitting what one antivirus expert has described as its "peak".

The worm appeared earlier in the week to little fanfare but businesses across the UK have been logging on today to struggling mail servers, vast numbers of mail delivery failure notifications, interception alerts or instances of the virus itself - all relating to the spread of Netsky.P.

Simon Perry, divisional vice president of security strategy at Computer Associates, said: "Netsky.P is definitely peaking. There has been an extremely high level of infection reports out there and a very high propensity of spread."

For many users the influx of mail delivery failure notifications is the most problematic aspect of any virus outbreak.

Netsky has added to the growing list of viruses which reach increasingly high numbers of variants. There was a time when a B. or C. variant was the most users would see, but the later end of the alphabet is increasingly getting an airing.

And Perry warned that there may yet be several more Netsky variants to come after P.

"No other new variants have been seen thus far," said Perry. "But who knows, we may yet wrap through the alphabet on this one within a few weeks."