Bagle and Netsky worms dominate chart as virus writers battle
for virus supremacy
Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and
viruses, has revealed the top ten viruses and hoaxes causing
problems for businesses around the world.
The report, which examines virus and hoax reports in the month
of March 2004, shows eight new entries to the chart.
The top ten viruses in March 2004 were as follows:
"The authors of the Netsky and Bagle worms have been battling
for virus writing supremacy in March, with both releasing new
variants in a tit-for-tat game of one-upmanship," said Carole
Theriault, security consultant, Sophos. "The Netsky author wins the
dubious accolade of the month's biggest virus, accounting for
almost 60% of all reports to Sophos, but the biggest losers are the
innocent computer users who have been caught in the crossfire of
the Netsky/Bagle spat."
"As the argument between the two virus writers escalated, a
torrent of new worms was released," continued Theriault. "To
minimise the impact of such virus activity, businesses should
consider blocking all attachments containing programs at the email
gateway and setting up their anti-virus protection to update
automatically."
Sophos analysed and protected against 824 new viruses in March.
The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is
89,112.
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during March are as
follows:
"This month's new entry targets the nation's conscience by
exploiting the tragic death of Jamie Bulger. Users are becoming
increasingly aware of the dangers of opening emails but
distributing and forwarding chain letters only wastes time and
bandwidth," continued Theriault.
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.