Authentium Says iDefense Wrong About Industry Response to Internet Worm.

Authentium Disputes Claim That Antivirus Vendors Only Recently Decoded Warezov Worm; Authentium Says It Informed Government Agencies about Payload Information Weeks Ago but Did Not Publicly Disclose Sensitive Information at Their Request.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Authentium, the leading developer of security software-as-a-service technologies, rejected claims made by Virginia-based iDefense earlier this week that the antivirus industry had responded slowly to the Warezov Internet worm outbreak (the worm is called "Stration" by iDefense and some antivirus vendors).

According to John Sharp, Authentium's CEO, "The iDefense claim that antivirus vendors failed to spot the Warezov payload is just flat-out wrong. The Authentium virus research team decompiled the highly sophisticated payload hidden inside the Warezov worm several weeks ago, within hours of the release of our first Warezov antivirus updates."

"When our researchers first decompiled the payload, they discovered information they felt may enable law enforcement to act against the criminals who created this threat. Rather than publicize this information, we worked up an analysis and contacted the authorities. We could have gone public with our findings, but instead we chose to share the data with government agency investigators in order to help them find and prosecute the criminal offenders. This was absolutely the right thing to do," Sharp explained.

Authentium is one of the world's leading antivirus technology developers. Its technologies are used to scan nearly four billion emails every week. Authentium's anti-malware technologies currently detect all known versions of the Warezov (Stration) worm, and Authentium's "zero hour" heuristics-based technologies have been proven to catch virtually all variants of the Warezov threat "in the wild."

"The iDefense announcement is inaccurate and the disclosure of specifics relating to the Warezov payload could actually harm global computer security and law enforcement efforts," said Robert Sandilands, head of Virus Research for Authentium. "Since providing information to the authorities, we have resisted making detailed public comments about the worm, beyond telling our customers they are protected against Warezov, in order to assist investigators. The revelations by iDefense might now end up compromising the ongoing international criminal investigation, which is not helpful."

About Authentium

Based in West Palm Beach, Florida, Authentium is the leading security software-as-a-service technology developer. Authentium is also a leading licensor of security software development toolkits to security software vendors, ISPs, MSOs, and security appliance manufacturers, and is one of the fastest-growing companies in the security software industry. Authentium services and technologies are provided to millions of consumers and businesses, worldwide. For more information about Authentium, please visit www.authentium.com.