The latest in a series of monthly charts on the ten most frequently occurring viruses and hoaxes as compiled by Sophos, the corporate anti-virus protection firm.
For January 2003, the virus chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one: W32/Avril-B (Avril variant) 16.8% NEW ENTRY; 2 W32/Avril-A (Avril worm) 12.4% NEW ENTRY; 3. W32/Klez-H (Klez variant) 12.1% TWELFTH MONTH IN TOP TEN; 4. W32/Sobig-A (Sobig worm) 6.1% NEW ENTRY; 5. W32/Yaha-K (Yaha variant) 5.7% NEW ENTRY; 6. W32/Bugbear-A (Bugbear worm) 5.6%; 7. W32/Yaha-E (Yaha variant) 3.3%; 8. W32/ElKern-C (Elkern) 2.1%; 9. W95/Spaces (Spaces virus) 1.5%; 10.W32/Flcss (Funlove) 1.2%. Others 33.2%
What they say
The Avril worms, first seen in the wild at the beginning of January, account for almost 30% of support queries. They have taken the top two spots of this month’s virus top ten. Other new entries to make the top ten were the Yaha-K and Sobig worms. “2002 ended with a few persistent offenders dominating the virus chart,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant, Sophos Anti-Virus. “2003 kicked off with another kind of offender – virus writer Simon Vallor, who has been sentenced to jail for two years. This month also saw the arrival of the Slammer worm – exploiting a six month old vulnerability. It reinforced the need for everyone to ensure their patches are kept up to date,” continued Cluley. Sophos detected 521 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses in January. The total number it now protects against is 79,538. Visit www.sophos.com
