7 January 2004
Top ten viruses and hoaxes reported to Sophos in December 2003
Sober worm takes top spot again, with new variant
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 December 2003, shows new worm variants Mimail-K and Sober-C are the most commonly reported, while the Hotmail hoax takes the top spot for a fifth month running.
The top ten viruses in December 2003 were as follows:
"The Sober-C worm, which spread by email and peer-to-peer networks, was first seen on 21 December, yet it still managed to be the most reported worm of the month," said Carole Theriault, security consultant at Sophos. "Despite Sober-C's top position on the chart, the different Mimail variants accounted for nearly a third of all reports at 29.7%."
Sophos analysed and protected against 730 new viruses in December. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is 86,811.
"With more than 700 new viruses arriving in our lab during December, it's fair to say that virus writers were not interested in taking a break over the festive period," continued Theriault.
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during December are as follows:
"The seasonal hoax, Elf Bowling, re-entered the chart in December, just in time for Christmas. The hoax claims that a bowling game with elves as pins is a virus which will activate on Christmas day," said 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.
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About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security
solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
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