Sophos, a world leader in IT security, has revealed the most
prevalent malware threats and hoaxes causing problems for computer
users around the world during September 2006.
The report, compiled from Sophos's global network of monitoring
stations, reveals that Netsky-P continues its domination at the top
of the charts, with the top five most prevalent pieces of malware
retaining their position from last month. There were no new entries
in September's chart and just one re-entry - MyDoom-AJ.
While the overall proportion of infected email has dropped to an
all time low of just one in 300 (0.33%), the number of new threats
continues to rise. In September Sophos identified 4,080 new
threats, compared with just 1,998 in the previous month, bringing
the total of malware protected against to 190,745. This clearly
indicates that cyber criminals are increasingly moving away from
mass mailed attacks in favour of more subtle and menacing attacks,
targeted at just a small group of users.
The top ten list of malware in September 2006 reads as
follows:
"Internet criminals have had a busy September - producing twice
as many new threats as they did in the previous month," said
Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The new malware we are
detecting can be much more sinister than the old timers that
dominate the chart. It often aims to steal sensitive data and
information - something which can be extremely damaging to both a
company's reputation and its bottom line. We recommend that all
organisations should put in place a consolidated security solution
that protects against both known and unknown malware threats."
Top ten hoaxes and chain letters in September 2006 were as
follows:
Graphics of the above top ten virus chart are available.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.