An exploit was added a couple of days ago to a number of security mailing lists, distribution sites, and other sources, which targets a remote code execution vulnerability in the AMX VNC ActiveX control. Since appearing on these sources it has spread to thousands of sites, and is guaranteed to have been seen by many, many people - some with malicious intent.Although a remote code execution exploit is nothing special nowadays, this particular piece of code claims to achieve its goals without alerting the victim to the fact that they have just been successfully hacked.
Whether or not it is relevant to the real reason behind the observed response time and packet loss deviation will be seen over time. At the least, administrators and end users should keep a closer eye on their systems and networks over the next few days to see if this unknown problem is going to spread.