The Stealthy War Between Virus Creators

April 5 -- Like the war on terrorism, there's a secret battle going on right now that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. And it is happening — right on your computer.

Recent computer viral outbreaks of the MyDoom, NetSky and Bagle e-mail bugs show that malicious online software, or "malware," is still a growing security threat.

Make that, "rapidly growing."

Computer security expert note that in the past three months since these infamous computer viruses made their online debut, each have already spawned nearly two dozen distinct variations.

"In the past, we saw different variants of viruses, but they were often buggy and didn't work in a lot of [computer] environments," says Craig Schmugar, a research manager for antivirus maker McAfee. Now, "There are hundreds of new viruses in an average week, and they're getting more complex, they work often across different [computer platforms]."

The reasons for the rapid rise of rascally code are many. But concerned experts point to a particularly disturbing trend: Malware creators are cranking out more and increasingly sophisticated bugs in order to prove who's the top dog when it comes to dirty online tricks.

Invisible Insults

The proof, they say, are in the vulgar taunts aimed at the software industry and other virus writers hidden within their various creations.

For example, in one variant of the Bagle virus discovered early last month, its creator or creators encrypted a line of text that said, "Hey, Netsky… don't ruine [sic] our business, wanna start a war?"

By the next day, antivirus researchers discovered a new version of the NetSky bug, complete with an embedded line that read: "Skynet Antivirus — Bagle — you are a looser!!!!"

But more than just verbal abuse, antivirus analyzers note that each successive bug and variant is becoming increasingly sophisticated in finding and exploiting vulnerable computers in order to spread.