Security news
Security news1 November 2000
Top ten viruses reported to Sophos in October 2000
As compiled by Sophos Anti-Virus
This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down the ten most frequently occurring viruses as compiled by Sophos, worldwide leaders in anti-virus protection.
For October 2000, the chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:
| Position | Last month |
Malware | Percentage of reports | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | W32/Apology-B |
| ||
| 2 | New | VBS/LoveLet-AS |
| ||
| 3 | 1 | VBS/Kakworm |
| ||
| 4 | 5= | W32/Qaz |
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| 5 | New | XM97/Jini-B |
| ||
| 6 | 2 | VBS/LoveLet-G |
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| 7 | 7 | WM97/Marker-C |
| ||
| 8 | Re-entry | W32/Pretty |
| ||
| 9= | New | W32/Flcss |
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| 9= | Re-entry | WM97/Thus-T |
| ||
| Others | 20.9% | ||||
"The most commonly encountered virus in October features a cunning trick," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus. "The W32/Apology virus stops infected users from reaching the websites of many anti-virus vendors, thus preventing them from downloading protection."
October witnessed one of the most high profile hacks ever when Microsoft revealed that its corporate computer network had been penetrated. The hackers are believed to have used the Qaz worm, which features at number 4 in this month's top ten.
Meanwhile in the Philippines the 19-year-old suspected author of the Erap Estrada worm was arrested. Floppy disks and other computer equipment taken from his home are being examined by the authorities.
More information about W32/Apology-B.
Compiled by Sophos's technical support team, the top ten chart is collated from calls to Sophos's 24 hour, 365 days a year technical support line.
Graphics of the above Top Ten chart are available here.
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About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
