Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and
viruses, has published a report revealing the top ten viruses and
hoaxes causing problems for businesses around the world.
The report, compiled from Sophos's global network of monitoring
stations, shows that the most prevalent viruses in October were
Netsky-P and Zafi-B - viruses which have topped the chart since
Zafi-B first appeared in June.
The top ten viruses in October 2004, and their positions last
month are as follows:
"With only one new entry, at the bottom of this month's chart,
the dominance of Netsky-P and Zafi-B seems unshakable," said Carole
Theriault, security consultant at Sophos. "These viruses are so
prevalent and well established that it is very difficult for newer
viruses to compete. Thousands of copies are circulating all over
the world - it may be that unprotected PCs in areas where computer
security is not a top priority are responsible for keeping the
menace alive."
Sophos analysed and protected against 1,131 new viruses in
October. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is
96,156. Sophos figures show that over 4.6%, or one in 22 emails,
circulating during the month of October were viral. When this
figure is compared to those of the last few months, a noticeable
reduction in viral email traffic can be seen - in July, over 9% of
emails were viral.
"The self-confessed author of the Netsky worms - whose variants
take six places in October's chart - discovered this month that his
trial has been postponed until 2005. The German court is said to
have delayed the case because it has proven impossible to agree an
earlier date with all parties involved. Users affected by Jaschan's
worms will no doubt be waiting to see the outcome," continued
Theriault.
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during October are as
follows:
"The Hotmail hoax - which claims to be an email from Hotmail's
administration urging users to forward the message on to other
Hotmail addresses - is continuing to circulate," continued
Theriault. "This hoax was number one in the hoax chart in October
last year and only fell to second position for one month in the
past year. Everyone can play a part in slowing down the spread of
this hoax. If you receive this email, simply delete it."
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 above top ten virus 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.