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Sophos Unveils Top Ten Viruses And Hoaxes Of July
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2005-08-02
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Network security company Sophos published a report, which shows the top ten viruses and hoaxes that cuased trouble for businesses in July.
The recently convicted teenager Sven Jaschan was responsible for the number one virus, the Netsky-P worm, but variants of the Mytob worm were all over the charts.
Mytob variants made up 7 of the top ten positions and more than 37% of all viruses reported to Sophos during July.
The top ten viruses in July according to Sophos were as follows:
1 W32/Netsky-P 13.9%
2 W32/Mytob-AS 11.6%
3 W32/Mytob-BE 9.3%
4 W32/Mytob-EP 5.5%
5 W32/Zafi-D 3.5%
6 W32/Mytob-CX 3.2% New Entry
7 W32/Netsky-D 3.1%
8 W32/Mytob-CJ 2.6%
9 W32/Mytob-CN 2.6%
10 W32/Mytob-AT 2.3%
Others 42.4%
Sophos' research shows that 2.1% or one in 47 e-mails, circulating during the month of July contained viruses. This is slightly down from the previous month, when one in 43 emails were infected.
"The Mytob worm variants definitely monopolized the chart in July, making this family the biggest we've seen," said Gregg Mastoras, senior security analyst at Lynnfield-based Sophos.
"The only new entry this month is another variant, Mytob-CX, which accounted for 3.2% of viruses in July." According to a press release,
Most of the Mytob variants infect networks via e-mail and many are able to take advantage of known software vulnerabilities. Many versions are also equipped with malicious code that enables them to communicate with the outside world -- though Sophos points out that these can be contained by a firewall. Some new variants of the worm have adopted a trick commonly used by phishers, which directs users to a website, where they involuntarily download a copy of the worm.
To minimize exposure to viruses, Sophos recommends that companies deploy a policy at their e-mail gateway that blocks unwanted executable attachments from being sent into their organization. Companies need to ensure that their anti-virus software is up-to-date, firewalls are in place and that they keep current with the latest security patches.
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during July 2005 were as follows:
1 Hotmail hoax 30.9% 13th month at number one
2 Meninas da Playboy 8.1%
3 Bonsai kitten 7.3%
4 WTC Survivor 5.1%
5 Jamie Bulger 5.0%
6 Budweiser frogs screensaver 4.1%
7 ICE virus hoax 3.7% New entry
8 A virtual card for you 3.0%
9 Applebees Gift Certificate 2.7%
10 Bill Gates fortune 2.2%
Others 27.9%
"The Hotmail hoax continues to hold the number one spot for the thirteenth month," continued Mastoras. "There was only one newcomer, the ICE virus hoax, which takes advantage of a legitimate e-mail campaign designed to encourage users to enter an 'In Case of Emergency' number into their mobile phones in the wake of the bombings in London. The hoax tries to make people think that following the advice makes them susceptible to a possible mobile virus infection, but this is completely false."
Sophos has made available a free, constantly updated information feed for intranets and websites.
About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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