Virus Is No Pandemic, Reports Sophos

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- IT security firm Sophos has urged Windows users not to panic following reports of a 'five-star cyber worm' that is said to have infected 'several million' computers across China. The virus has captured attention because it converts icons of infected programs into a picture of a panda burning joss-sticks.

Media reports from China, including the Shanghai Daily, have quoted members of the Shanghai Information Technology Service Center as saying the virus represents a 'top level' threat, because of the risk it poses to networks belonging to government bureaus and companies.

One Beijing-based security firm reportedly estimated that several million PCs may be infected by the worm. Sophos, however, has received very few reports of the malware being seen in the wild.

The virus, known as Fujacks-I and Fujacks-J (also called worm.whboy in some media reports), was already detected proactively by Sophos's Behavioral Genotype Technology.

Sophos plc