Sophos: Top Ten Viruses In August 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 August 2001, the chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:
1. W32/Sircam-A (Sircam) – 49.8%
2. W32/Magistr-A (Magistr) – 13.0%
3= Unix/Sadmind (Sadmind) – 3.6%
3= W32/Hybris-B (Hybris variant) – 3.6%
5. W32/Apology-B (Apology variant) – 2.6%
6. W32/Flcss (Funlove) – 2.3%
7. VBS/Kakworm (Kakworm) – 2.1%
8. WM97/Ethan (Ethan) – 1.4%
9. W32/Code-RedII (Code Red Trojan) – 1.2%
10 VBS/Haptime-A (Happy Time) – 1.1%
Others 20.2%
“The Sircam worm has now topped the charts for two months. The Magistr worm, which has enjoyed Bryan Adams like domination for half a year now, continues to make its presence felt in second place,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. “Both worms play a similar trick – neither virus use a standard filename or subject line so it is harder for users to know what to look out for. Careless clicking can lead to catastrophe – keep your anti-virus software up to date and do not open unsolicited attachments.”
1051 new viruses were discovered and protected against by Sophos Anti-Virus during August 2001.
The total number of viruses Sophos now detects and protects against is 67221.
For more information about Sircam visit:
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32sircama.html
Graphics of the above Top Ten chart are available at:
http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/imggallery/topten/
For more information about safe computing visit:
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/safehex.html
Complied by Sophos’s technical support team, the top ten chart is collated from submissions to Sophos’s 24 hour, 365 days a year technical support service.
About Sophos
Sophos is one of the world’s largest specialist developers of anti-virus software. The products are sold and supported through a global network of subsidiaries and partners in more than 120 countries. Sophos Anti-Virus is widely used by large corporations, banks and governments.
For further information, please visit http://www.sophos.com