New entries Sobig-B and Fizzer dominate this month's chart
For May 2003, the virus chart is as follows, with the most
frequently occurring virus at number one:
"May saw two new entries at the top of the chart - Sobig-B and
Fizzer," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos
Anti-Virus. "Disguised as a message from Microsoft technical
support, Sobig-B spreads quickly via email and network shares.
Fizzer, meanwhile, exploited email and the KaZaA file-sharing
network. Both of these prove that it isn't enough just to block
your email gateway - companies should ensure the virus protection
on their desktops is automatically updated."
Sophos detected 611 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses in May.
The total number it now protects against is 82,048.
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during May 2003 are as
follows:
"A chain letter claiming to offer a free Nokia mobile phone has
stormed to the very top of the hoax charts this month," said
Cluley. "The Nokia Giveaway chain letter has even managed to topple
JDBGMGR, one of the most persistent hoaxes of all time."
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.