NetXactics, local distributor for Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and viruses, has revealed the top 10 viruses and hoaxes causing problems for businesses around the world.
The report, which examines virus and hoax reports in the month of December 2003, shows new worm variants Mimail-K and Sober-C are the most commonly reported, while the Hotmail hoax takes the top spot for a fifth month running.
The top 10 viruses in December 2003 were as follows:
table
"The Sober-C worm, which spread by e-mail and peer-to-peer networks, was first seen on 21 December, yet it still managed to be the most reported worm of the month," said Brett Myroff, CEO of NetXactics. "Despite Sober-C`s top position on the chart, the different Mimail variants accounted for nearly a third of all reports at 29.7%."
Sophos analysed and protected against 730 new viruses in December. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is 86 811.
"With more than 700 new viruses arriving in the Sophos lab during December, it`s fair to say that virus writers were not interested in taking a break over the festive period," continued Myroff.
The top 10 hoaxes reported to Sophos during December are as follows:
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"The seasonal hoax, Elf Bowling, re-entered the chart in December, just in time for Christmas. The hoax claims that a bowling game with elves as pins is a virus which will activate on Christmas Day," said Myroff.
Graphics of the virus top 10 chart are available at http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/imggallery/topten/.
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