This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down
the ten most frequently occurring viruses as compiled by Sophos, a
world leader in corporate anti-virus protection.
For May 2002, the chart is as follows, with the most frequently
occurring virus at number one:
"For the third month in a row a variant of the Klez worm
dominates the virus chart - accounting for more than half of the
submissions to Sophos's technical team," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus. "Klez-H is trickier to spot
than the average virus because it randomly generates a new subject
line, email text and attachment name each time it propogates. That
said, putting a halt to the spread of Klez-H is as simple as
updating your anti-virus software and following safe computing practices. As with any other
virus, these simple measures will stop Klez-H dead in its
tracks."
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during May 2002 are as
follows:
"
JDBGMGR, a recent
hoax, dominates this month's chart," continued Cluley. "This fake
virus warning panicked many users into thinking a
commonly-encountered file was in fact viral. Hoaxes often generate
as much inconvenience as real viruses, gobbling up email bandwidth
and causing confusion."
514 new viruses were discovered and protected against by Sophos
Anti-Virus during May 2002.
The total number of viruses Sophos now detects and protects
against is 74067.
More information
about Klez.
Graphics of the above Top Ten chart are available here.
More information
about safe computing, including anti-hoax policies.
Compiled by Sophos's technical support team, the top ten chart
is collated from calls to Sophos's 24 hour, 365 days a year
technical support line.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.