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 June 2004, shows the Hungarian Zafi worm dominating the virus chart, accounting for almost a third of all viruses spotted by Sophos`s global network of monitoring stations.
The top 10 viruses in June 2004 were as follows:
TABLE
"The Zafi-B worm, which calls for changes to Hungarian legislation, such as the introduction of the death penalty to reduce crime, uses sophisticated social engineering tricks to dupe innocent recipients into opening the attachment and launching the virus," said Cornel Swart, National Sales Manager for NetXactics. "First seen on 11 June, Zafi-B, which spreads itself by peer-to-peer file-sharing systems and e-mail, using a wide variety of different languages, is proving to be a real pest.
Sophos analysed and protected against 677 new viruses in June. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is 91 488. Sophos figures have shown that over 7% of e-mails circulating during the month of June have been viral.
"Perhaps due to extensive media coverage, Sasser has dropped from the top spot as the most prevalent virus, suggesting that computer users are wising up and ensuring their computers are patched against security vulnerabilities," continued Swart. "Indeed, an interview with the suspected author of the Sasser and Netsky worms was published in Germany this month, further publicising the worms."
The top 10 hoaxes reported to Sophos during June are as follows:
TABLE
"The hotmail hoax may have been knocked off the top spot this month, but the same hoaxes recur again and again," continued Swart. "It`s astonishing that computer users are continuing to circulate hoaxes - the best option is just to ignore them."
Graphics of the virus top 10 chart are available here: http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/imggallery/topten/
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NetXactics is a South African-based company, focused on the provision of security solutions. It is the sole distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa for UK-based Sophos Plc, one of the leaders in the provision of anti-virus and anti-spam software for the corporate environment. For more information, visit NetXactics at www.netxactics.co.za.
Sophos
Sophos is one of the world`s largest specialist developers of anti-virus and anti-spam software. Headquartered in the UK, the company designs solutions specifically to protect businesses and organisations, including large corporations, banks and governments, from viruses and spam.
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