Top Ten Viruses and Hoaxes Reported to Sophos in November 2004

Top Ten Viruses and Hoaxes Reported to Sophos in November 2004

LYNNFIELD, Mass., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sophos, a global leader in anti-virus, anti-spam and policy-based network security, has published a report revealing the top ten viruses and hoaxes causing problems for businesses around the world during the month of November.

The report, compiled from Sophos's global network of monitoring research labs, shows that two new major viruses -- Sober-I and Bagle-AU -- appeared during the month, though the prevalent Netsky-P and Zafi-B, which were first spotted in March 2004 and June 2004 respectively, continue to be major irritants.

The top ten viruses in November 2004 were as follows:

1. W32/Netsky-P 24.2%
2. W32/Sober-I 20.4% NEW ENTRY
3. W32/Zafi-B 17.9%
4. W32/Bagle-AU 11.0% NEW ENTRY
5. W32/Netsky-D 4.4%
6. W32/Netsky-Z 3.9%
7. W32/Bagle-AA 2.6%
8. W32/Netsky-B 2.4%
9. W32/MyDoom-O 2.2%
10. W32/Netsky-Q 2.1% RE-ENTRY

Others 8.9%



"Sober-I and Bagle-AU proved to be a nuisance to many businesses and consumers," said Gregg Mastoras, senior security analyst at Sophos, Inc. "Taking the second spot on the Top Ten virus chart, Sober-I accounted for more than 20% of reports despite the fact that it was not discovered until November 19th. Sober-I spreads via email and uses a variety of subject lines and message texts, many of which allude to important security or messaging information. It's apparent that despite the continuous risks, many people still do not have an anti-virus solution that automatically updates or have a policy in place that would block dangerous attachments at the email gateway."

"Netsky-P and Zafi-B also claimed top spots even though protection against them was made available as soon as they were first detected. If users took precautionary measures, these earlier threats wouldn't be an issue any longer," continued Mastoras.

Sophos analyzed and protected against 1,379 new viruses in November. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is 97,535. Sophos research shows that over 5.6%, or one in 18 emails, circulating during the month of November were viral. This is an increase from last month's figure, which was 4.6%.

The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during November are as follows:

1. Hotmail hoax 24.1% FIFTH MONTH AT NUMBER ONE
2. Meninas da Playboy 9.6%
3. A virtual card for you 8.8%
4. Jamie Bulger 4.7%
5. Applebees Gift Certificate 3.4%
6. Bonsai kitten 3.3%
7. Budweiser frogs screensaver 3.2%
8. Yahoo instant message 3.0% NEW ENTRY
9. WTC Survivor 2.8%
10. Bill Gates fortune 2.2%

Others 34.9%



"A new hoax to make the Top Ten hoax chart was the Yahoo instant message hoax, which spread via email and instant messaging services. The hoax warns instant messaging users to be wary of another named instant messaging user who it claims is spreading a virus," continued Mastoras. "Users need to remember that hoaxes can be just as disruptive and costly as a genuine virus. Hoaxes can overload mail servers and make them crash if people forward them. False warnings also distract from efforts to deal with real virus threats. Users should simply forward any such warnings to their anti-virus administrator so that they can deal with the issue accordingly."

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: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/infofeed/

Graphics of the above top ten virus chart are available at: www.sophos.com/pressoffice/imgallery/topten

For more information about safe computing, including anti-hoax policies, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/bestpractice/

About Sophos

Sophos is a world leading developer of anti-virus and anti-spam software. The company protects businesses and organizations - from small enterprises to academic and financial institutions to governments and global corporations - against viruses and spam. Sophos is acclaimed for delivering the highest level of customer satisfaction and protection in the industry. The company's products are sold and supported in more than 150 countries. On the web at: http://www.sophos.com/.

Contacts:
Jennifer Torode Lorita Vannah
Sophos Inc. Horn Group
781-973-1101 781-356-7145
Jennifer.torode@sophos.comlvannah@horngroup.com


Source: Sophos

CONTACT: Jennifer Torode of Sophos, Inc., +1-781-973-1101,
Jennifer.torode@sophos.com; or Lorita Vannah of Horn Group, +1-781-356-7145,
lvannah@horngroup.com

Web site: http://www.sophos.com/


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