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5 September 2001

Top ten viruses reported to Sophos in August 2001

Wakefield, MA - Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus solutions, today released the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down the ten most frequently occurring viruses.

For August 2001, the chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:

Position Last
month		 Malware Percentage of reports
11W32/Sircam-A
   48.9%
22W32/Magistr-A
   13.0%
3=Re-entryUnix/SadMind
   3.6%
3=3W32/Hybris-B
   3.6%
55W32/Apology-B
   2.6%
69=W32/Flcss
   2.3%
76VBS/Kakworm
   2.1%
8Re-entryWM97/Ethan
   1.4%
9NewW32/CodeRed-II
   1.2%
10Re-entryVBS/Haptime-A
   1.1%
Others20.2%

"The Sircam worm has now topped the charts for two months. The Magistr worm, which has dominated the charts for half a year, is continuing to make its presence felt in second place," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "Both worms play a similar trick; neither of the viruses use a standard filename or subject line so it is harder for users to know what to look out for. Careless clicking can lead to catastrophe; keep your anti-virus software up to date and do not open unsolicited attachments."

1051 new viruses were discovered and protected against by Sophos Anti-Virus during August 2001.

The total number of viruses Sophos now detects and protects against is 67221.

More information about safe computing.

Graphics of the above Top Ten chart are available here.

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.

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