1 November 2004
Top ten viruses and hoaxes reported to Sophos in October 2004
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.
Do you know how many employees are running virtualisation software on their PCs?
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
Security news
Security news
