Sasser worm dominates virus reports; number of new viruses hits
two and a half year high
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 May 2004, shows the Sasser worm dominating the chart, accounting
for more than half the reports received by Sophos.
The top ten viruses in May 2004 were as follows:
"Sasser was the major pain in the neck this month, affecting far
more users than even the prevalent Netsky worms. Requiring no user
intervention and taking advantage of a relatively new Microsoft
hole, it sneaked onto unprotected PCs, swamping internet
connections," said Carole Theriault, security consultant, Sophos.
"The best way to block such stealth worms is to deploy a
consolidated defence, including multi-level anti-virus protection,
firewalls and policies to update operating systems and educate
staff."
Sophos analysed and protected against 959 new viruses in May,
this is the highest number of new viruses discovered in a single
month since December 2001. The total number of viruses Sophos now
protects against is 90,811.
"The Sasser and Netsky worms may have captured the headlines,
but many more viruses have been written this month - 959 in total,"
continued Theriault. "Indeed, May has seen a noticeable spike in
cybercriminal activity, suggesting that even the arrest of Sven
Jaschan, the German teenager who has owned up to writing Sasser and
Netsky has done nothing to curb the problem."
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during May are as
follows:
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.