Security news
Security news2 April 2001
Top ten viruses reported to Sophos in March 2001
This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down the ten most frequently occurring viruses as compiled by Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection.
For March 2001, the chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:
| Position | Last month |
Malware | Percentage of reports | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | W32/Apology-B |
| ||
| 2 | 4 | VBS/Kakworm |
| ||
| 3 | 3 | W32/Hybris-B |
| ||
| 4= | 7 | VBS/LoveLet-AS |
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| 4= | New | W32/Magistr-A |
| ||
| 6= | 9 | Troj/Jethome |
| ||
| 6= | New | W32/Naked |
| ||
| 8= | 5 | W32/Navidad-B |
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| 8= | 8 | WM97/Marker-C |
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| 10 | Re-entry | W32/Bymer-A |
| ||
| Others | 35.1% | ||||
"Despite some new viruses receiving a high profile in the media this month the top of the chart is dominated by some familiar faces," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "It is astonishing that viruses that have been around for months - or even years in the case of Kakworm - are still costing companies money. The message is simple - keep your anti-virus software up-to-date and ensure you have installed the latest security patches."
Notable new viruses in March included Magistr, Naked Wife and two new Linux viruses - Lion and Lindose (aka the Winux virus). March also saw the second anniversary of the Melissa virus which was written and released by David L. Smith. Following high profile virus attacks at the start of the year Sophos published new versions of its safe computing guidelines, one aimed at network administrators and one with simple steps the everyday user can take.
867 new viruses were discovered and protected against by Sophos during March 2001.
The total number of viruses Sophos detects and protects against is 61,893.
Compiled by Sophos's technical support team, the top ten chart is collated from calls to Sophos's 24 hour, 365 days a year technical support line.
Graphics of the above Top Ten chart are available here.
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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
