Don’t get me started on what kind of month it has been for viruses. And it’s still happening. Sophos, an anti-virus provider, today announced its monthly countdown of the ten most frequently occurring viruses and hoaxes as compiled by Sophos.For August 2003, the chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:
1. W32/Sobig-F (Sobig variant) 37.6% New Entry
2. W32/Blaster-A (Blaster worm) 18.8% New Entry
3. W32/Nachi-A (Nachi worm) 5.5% New Entry
4. W32/Mimail-A (Mimail worm) 5.3% New Entry
5. W32/Yaha-P (Yaha variant) 2.1%
6. W32/Klez-H (Klez variant) 1.3% 19 months in chart
7. W32/Bugbear-B (Bugbear variant) 1.1%
8. W32/Yaha-E (Yaha variant) 0.8%
9. W32/Dumaru-A (Dumaru virus) 0.6% New Entry
10. W32/Sobig-A (Sobig worm) 0.3%
2. W32/Blaster-A (Blaster worm) 18.8% New Entry
3. W32/Nachi-A (Nachi worm) 5.5% New Entry
4. W32/Mimail-A (Mimail worm) 5.3% New Entry
5. W32/Yaha-P (Yaha variant) 2.1%
6. W32/Klez-H (Klez variant) 1.3% 19 months in chart
7. W32/Bugbear-B (Bugbear variant) 1.1%
8. W32/Yaha-E (Yaha variant) 0.8%
9. W32/Dumaru-A (Dumaru virus) 0.6% New Entry
10. W32/Sobig-A (Sobig worm) 0.3%
Others: 26.6%
“August 2003 will be remembered as one of the worst months in the history of computer security. A series of different viruses have bombarded computer systems around the globe, culminating in the newest member of the Sobig family, which swamped Internet email traffic and took the top position in the chart. The top four viruses are all new entries — any of which would have been number one in a normal month,” said Chris Belthoff, senior security analyst at Sophos, Inc.