Johannesburg, 02 Oct 2003
Anti-virus software vendors report that the Internet worm Sobig.F was by far the most prevalent virus in September.
US-based anti-virus company Central Command says in its monthly "Dirty Dozen" list of most prevalent viruses that the worm Sobig.F accounted for 67.5% of infections reported last month.
The second most prevalent infection was by the new worm Gibe.C, which accounted for 8.6% of all infections. Other worms - Nachi.A, Dumaru.A, Klez.E and G, MiMail.A, Lovesan.A, BugBear.B, Sobig.A, Sircam.A, Funlove and Yaha.E - accounted for less than 4% each.
The report is based on the number of virus occurrences confirmed through Central Command`s Emergency Virus Response Team (EVRT).
"Despite having a self-termination date of 10 September 2003 that crippled its aggressive e-mailing spreading routine, the massive volume of infection reports prior to the de-activation date easily secured Sobig.F the top spot," says Steven Sundermeier, VP of products and services at Central Command.
According to Central Command`s EVRT, the top new nuisance was Worm/Gibe.C. "Worm/Gibe.C was crafted to disguise itself as a cumulative security patch from Microsoft. The closely mirrored e-mails combined with the hot topic of patching vulnerable systems misled users down the path of virus infection."
In its list of the 20 most widespread viruses for September, Kaspersky Labs lists Sobig as the leader at 44.75%, with the worm Swen following at 36.5%. Third on the list was the worm Mimail, accounting for 6.5% of infections, while all other worms accounted for less than 3% each.
"Companies need to realise that viruses are here to stay, they will evolve as technology evolves, and every possible precaution should be taken to ensure the impact of a virus outbreak is minimised," says Brett Myroff, CEO of Netxactics, southern African distributor for Sophos Anti-Virus. Sophos reported last month that Sobig.F was "flooding computer users".
Share