TOP TEN VIRUSES AND HOAXES REPORTED TO SOPHOS IN JUNE 2004

Nasty Zafi worm knocks Netsky and Sasser from top position

Singapore, 1st July 2004 - Sophos 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 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 ten viruses in June 2004 were as follows:

1. W32/Zafi-B 30.4% NEW ENTRY
2. W32/Netsky-P 9.9%
3. W32/Sasser 6.8%
4. W32/Netsky-D 3.1%
5. W32/Netsky-Z 2.1%
6. W32/Netsky-B 1.6%
7. W32/Bagle-AA 1.2%
8. W32/Netsky-Q 0.8%
9. W32/Sober-G 0.7%
10. W32/Netsky-C 0.5%

Others 42.9%

"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 Charles Cousins, managing director, Sophos Asia. "First seen on 11 June, Zafi-B, which spreads itself by peer-to-peer file-sharing systems and email, 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 emails 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 that their computers are patched against security vulnerabilities," continued Cousins. "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 ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during June are as follows:

1. Meninas da Playboy 13.3%
2. Hotmail hoax 11.0%
3. Spunkball 10.1%
4. Bonsai kitten 6.3%
5. Budweiser frogs screensaver 4.9%
6. A virtual card for you 4.6%
6= Bill Gates fortune 4.6%
8. WTC Survivor 4.4%
9. JDBGMGR 3.5%
10. Jamie Bulger 2.2%

Others 35.1%

"The hotmail hoax may have been knocked off the top spot this month, but the same hoaxes recur again and again," continued Cousins. "It's astonishing that computer users are continuing to circulate hoaxes - the best option is just to ignore them."