This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down
the ten most frequently occurring viruses and hoaxes as compiled by
Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection.
For December 2002, the virus chart is as follows, with the most
frequently occurring virus at number one:
"Two worms account for over a quarter of all support queries we
receive at Sophos. Klez, the biggest virus of 2002, and Bugbear
continue to cause users problems even though protection against
them is simple," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant,
Sophos Anti-Virus. "It's important that all users ensure they keep
their anti-virus software up-to-date and practise safe
computing."
Also causing problems for users in December was the Tubmo Trojan
horse which makes changes to web browsers by redirecting them to
specific websites and portals.
Sophos detected 636 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses in
December, the total number it now protects against is 79,017.
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during December 2002 are
as follows:
"The JDBGMR hoax has been at the top of the myth list for eight
months and shows no signs of subsiding," continued Cluley. "The
seasonal Elf Bowling hoax about a joke program which shows Santa
Claus playing ten pin bowling with elves made a reappearance after
a full year away."
Sophos has made available a free, constantly updated information feed for intranets and
websites which means users can always find out about the latest
viruses and hoaxes.
Graphics of the virus top ten chart are available here.
More information about safe computing,
including anti-hoax policies.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.