Sophos annual security report names year`s worst malware

Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against viruses, spyware and spam, has revealed the top ten malware threats of 2005 in a new in-depth report into the year`s most pressing security issues.

This year saw the number of new threats rise by 48%, with the lingering Zafi-D worm taking the number one spot in the virus chart. Last year`s hardest hitting virus, Netsky-P, dropped to second place.

In contrast, Sober-Z - only unleashed in November 2005 - has already climbed to third position as it continues to disrupt and clog networks worldwide.

The Sophos 2005 Security Threat Management Report reveals that, on average, one in every 44 e-mails was viral during 2005. This rose to one in twelve during major outbreaks, while 15,907 new malware threats were identified. The top ten viruses of the year are as follows, with the percentage of reports indicated in brackets:

1. W32/Zafi-D (16.7%)
2. W32/Netsky-P (15.7%)
3. W32/Sober-Z (6.0%)
4. W32/Sober-N (4.3%)
5. W32/Zafi-B (4.0%)
6. W32/Mytob-BE (3.9%)
7. W32/Mytob-AS (3.8%)
8. W32/Netsky-D (3.0%)
9. W32/Mytob-GH (1.9%)
10. W32/Mytob-EP (1.8%)
Others (38.9%)

While all of the top ten threats are Windows-based worms, the number of Trojan horses written during 2005 outweighs worms by almost two to one. In addition, the percentage of malware that includes spyware components rose from 54.2% in January to 66.4% by the end of the year.

"These figures reinforce the notion that malware authors are engaging in targeted attacks, rather than widespread bombardment, and also help explain a rise in the amount of spam generated by zombie computers - now accounting for over 60% of the world`s spam," says Brett Myroff, CEO of local Sophos distributor, NetXactics.

Unlike viruses or worms, Trojans cannot replicate on their own, meaning that they must be deliberately e-mailed or planted on websites in order to spread. "It`s more and more common for new Trojans to become widespread after being spammed from zombie computers," says Myroff. "So it`s no surprise that most of the top ten threats are those that give hackers access to an infected PC to create a zombie, steal information and distribute their malware by means of unsuspecting users."

The Sophos report also reveals that unprotected computers have a 40% chance of being infected by an internet worm within ten minutes of being released, turning them into a zombie under a remote hacker`s control.

The report also identifies which countries around the world have been responsible for relaying the most spam during 2005, and that pornographic spam and messages attempting "pump-and-dump" stock scams have surged.

For full details, the report can be downloaded from http://www.sophos.com/securityreport2005.