NetXactics, local distributor for Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and viruses, has revealed the top ten viruses and hoaxes causing problems for businesses around the world.
The report, which examines virus and hoax reports in the month of May 2004, shows the Sasser worm dominating the chart, accounting for more than half the reports received by Sophos.
The top ten viruses in May 2004 were as follows:
"Sasser was the major pain in the neck this month, affecting far more users than even the prevalent Netsky worms. Requiring no user intervention and taking advantage of a relatively new Microsoft hole, it sneaked onto unprotected PCs, swamping internet connections," said Brett Myroff, CEO of NetXactics. "The best way to block such stealth worms is to deploy a consolidated defence, including multi-level anti-virus protection, firewalls and policies to update operating systems and educate staff."
Sophos analysed and protected against 959 new viruses in May, this is the highest number of new viruses discovered in a single month since December 2001. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is 90,811.
"The Sasser and Netsky worms may have captured the headlines, but many more viruses have been written this month - 959 in total," continued Myroff. "Indeed, May has seen a noticeable spike in cybercriminal activity, suggesting that even the arrest of Sven Jaschan, the German teenager who has owned up to writing Sasser and Netsky has done nothing to curb the problem."
The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during May are as follows:
"A new entry to the hoax chart in May is the `Spunkball` chain letter," continued Myroff. "This message claims to warn of teenagers targeting stationary cars with fire bombs. As ever, the best advice for computer users receiving this sort of hoax email is to simply press delete. Deploying an effective anti-spam defence can also reduce the impact of hoaxes and chain letters."
Graphics of the virus Top Ten chart are available here.
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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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