MessegeLabs, the email security company, issued a press release yesterday highlighting the possible affects viruses may pose on the Internet. “The Internet could become unusable as a means of communication if the rate of email virus outbreaks continues to escalate”. Said Mark Sunner, MessageLabs Chief Technology Officer.

In October last year 1 in 700 email contained a virus. This year the figure has increased to 1 in every 300 emails. They predict that by 2013 up to 1 in 2 email will contain a virus. MessageLabs based this prediction on past trends.

Sunner argues that this is a very real and alarming threat. He adds “Users may simply view attachments as untrustworthy, companies without proper protection may decide to limit their use and computer networks could grind to a halt because of the overwhelming volume of infected material circulating”.

In an age were Internet has become a vital tool for global communication, this may pose as a very serious threat for office as well as home users.