Security news
Security news30 November 2000
Stop bugging me!
Love Bug beaten to number one spot by Kakworm in Sophos Anti-Virus top ten of the year so far
A report published by Sophos Anti-Virus, the world's leading developer of corporate virus protection, reveals that the viruses with the most attention are not necessarily the most common. Love Bug, which made front-page news across the world in May 2000, was beaten to the number one spot in Sophos's annual top ten chart by Kakworm.
Kakworm topped Sophos's virus top ten for the year accounting for 17% of all calls made to Sophos's help desk. The virus, which first appeared in January 2000, has never dropped out of the top three most common viruses in Sophos's monthly top tens. Microsoft issued a security patch against the exploit used by Kakworm in 1999, yet, despite repeated warnings from anti-virus firms, many users have not downloaded it.
"Love Bug was a shooting star - lots of action and noise and fury for a relatively short time." said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus. "Meanwhile, Kakworm has crept stealthily to the top of the charts."
The annual top ten also reveals that only 6% of the viruses circulating in the wild are script viruses, yet these account for over one third of all infections.
One latecomer stormed into the top ten for the year. Navidad started to spread at the beginning of November yet managed to enter the chart at number 7 in just a few weeks. The virus masquerades as a Christmas card, playing on the seasonal lapse in caution.
Other developments in 2000 included:
- There was a great deal of panic surrounding the possibility of viruses for mobile platforms. Some anti-virus companies released versions of their software for the Palm and for WAP Gateways despite the fact that there are no viruses in the wild for the Palm and mobile phones are not currently vulnerable to viruses.
- Hackers used the Qaz Trojan horse to break into Microsoft's computer systems, gaining access to product source code. A clear message was sent around the world, warning that your company's IT security can be weakened by complacent or ill-informed users.
- 2000 was also a year of hype with some anti-virus firms learning that press coverage could be gained by releasing warnings about non-threatening viruses.
- It was a year of hit and miss for the prosecution of virus writers. David L. Smith, who pleaded guilty to writing the Melissa virus, awaited sentence throughout 2000 with no resolution forthcoming and the Love Bug author walked away scot-free as the Philippines had no computer crime laws. More positively, the author of the devastating Chernobyl virus was arrested in Taiwan.
Top Ten 2000 figures in full:
| Position | Malware | Percentage of reports | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VBS/Kakworm |
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| 2 | VBS/LoveLet |
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| 3 | W32/Apology-B |
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| 4 | WM97/Marker-A |
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| 5 | W32/Pretty |
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| 6 | VBS/Stages-A |
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| 7 | W32/Navidad |
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| 8 | W32/Ska-Happy99 |
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| 9 | WM97/Thus |
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| 10 | XM97/Jini |
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| Others | 34.2% | |||
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
