McAfee VIL- Top Ten Virus Threats

A virus that McAfee considers "high-risk" is ALWAYS widespread or worse. You can expect to see this one. Although the commonality is the strongest criteria, it also matters what it does. A High-Risk usually has a destructive payload that causes severe or worse damage, deleting files. It may actually cause Unforseeable damage, sending on possibly confidential files. It might damage an EPROM or Flash Bios so your computer, literally, will never work again. BE WARNED! Finally, there is the Target Commonality. Something with a high target commonality might fry anything with Windows, while a Low Target Commonality may hit Southeast-Asian computers running a German version of "Tetris" over the Internet before applying patch 4 but after applying patch 2, and only if they're using Linux. A high-risk threat will have among the worst of all categories.

A "medium-risk" virus hits the middle of most categories. It might delete a few critical files, but it's not going to become an epidemic. It would hit something like Word- widespread, but not hugely so.

A Low-Risk threat has bottomed out on one or all categories. Yeah, it may forward your entire HD, in pieces, to everyone in your address book and to the virus author, and hit any OS there is, but if it's confined to one company, it's still low risk.

CERT Current Threats

Symantec (Norton) Current Threats

1. VERY dangerous. Has everything a High Risk has in McAfee.
2. Similar, but slightly less widespread or less damaging.
3. Like a McAfee Medium Risk.
4. Doesn't do much damage, and is rather uncommon.
5. Harmless payload, very rare.