Central Command: Top 12 Viruses For April 2003
Worm/Klez.E Infections At Lowest Levels, New Worm/Lovegate.F Debuts At Number Five
MEDINA, Ohio April 30, 2003 – Central Command, a leading provider of PC anti-virus software and computer security services today released its monthly listing of the top twelve viruses reported for April, 2003. The report, coined the “Dirty Dozen”, is based on the number of virus occurrences confirmed through Central Command’s Emergency Virus Response Team.
The table below represents the most prevalent viruses for April 2003, number one being the most frequent.
Ranking Virus Name Percentage
1. Worm/Klez.E (includes G) 18.7%
2. W32/Yaha.E 8.9%
3. Worm/Yaha.M 7.5%
4. Worm/Sobig.A 6.1%
5. Worm/Lovegate.F 5.4%
6. Worm/Sircam.A 5.0%
7. W32/Funlove 3.4%
8. W32/Nimda 2.8%
9. W32/Elkern 2.7%
10. Worm/Bugbear 2.5%
11. Worm/Ganda 1.8%
12. Worm/Yaha.L 1.6%
Others 33.6%
“Since its discovery last April, Worm/Klez.G (detected as Worm/Klez.E) has dominated our Dirty Dozen report. However, we were very pleased to see the total number of infections drop to its lowest levels since the inception of the virus,” said Steven Sundermeier, product manager of Central Command, Inc. “Computer users are finally beginning to understand the importance of maintaining up-to-date virus protection. This is paying off in higher dividends for them, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.” Worm/Klez.G accounted for 18.7% of all total virus infection reports for April 2003, one year ago (April 2002), it accounted for an astounding 79.2%.
Two new viruses debuted in the Dirty Dozen, Worm/Lovegate.F (#5) and Worm/Ganda (#11). Worm/Lovegate.F is a network aware Internet worm that used many different body messages to deceive unknowing email users into running it, “Tiger Woods had two eagles Friday during his victory over Stephen Leaney. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)” is one such example. Worm/Ganda is an Internet worm socially engineered to capitalize on the world’s current interest in the events of the Middle East. One of the randomly selected body messages claimed the attachment was a screensaver containing pictures taken by one of the US spy satellites during a mission over Iraq.
Vexira Antivirus has been updated for 860 different viruses, worms and other malicious applications during the month of April 2003.
Vexira Antivirus starts at $34.95, and a free 30-day trial version may be downloaded from (www.centralcommand.com) or obtained by contacting Central Command at +1-330 723-2062.
About Central Command: A leader in the anti-virus industry, Central Command, Inc., a privately held company, serves home PC users and industrial, financial, government, education, healthcare and service firms with virus protection software, services, and information. The company services customers in over 98 countries and is headquartered in Medina, Ohio. Visit Central Command online at (www.centralcommand.com) or call 1-330-723-2062 for more information.
Central Command, EVRT, Vexira, and Emergency Virus Response Team are trademarks of Central Command, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names, and products referenced herein are property of their respective owners.