By Will Sturgeon, 28 November 2003 16:55
NEWS Mimail is dominating the virus landscape at the moment, accounting for five of the top 10 most virulent viruses of the past month.
Mimail variants C, F, A, J and E all featured in the list compiled by Sophos, and accounted for a quarter of all reports, but top spot went to new entry Sober, which accounted for a massive 32.6 per cent of all reported incidences of malware.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said it is Sober's ability to change subject line which makes it difficult to identify "with the naked eye".
The virus can even change subject line according to the country it believes it is in - Cluley said it will appear with a German subject line if it 'thinks' it is being opened on a German machine.
Other places in the chart, designed to publicise the greatest threats at large, were taken by familiar names such as Gibe, Klez and Nachi which have been doing the rounds for quite some time.
Klez has now been an ever-present in this chart for 22 months now - though it's stock is at last showing signs of decline - accounting for just 2.2 per cent of virus reports, and occupying ninth place. However, its record is one which is unlikely to be broken for a very long time.
The full top 10 looks like this:
1. W32/Sober-A (Sober worm) 32.6 per cent NEW ENTRY
2= W32/Mimail-C (Mimail variant) 9.5 per cent
2= W32/Mimail-F (Mimail variant) 9.5 per cent
4. W32/Dumaru-A (Dumaru virus) 8.0 per cent
5. W32/Mimail-A (Mimail worm) 5.1 per cent
6. W32/Gibe-F (Gibe variant) 4.5 per cent
7. W32/Nachi-A (Nachi worm) 2.6 per cent
8. W32/Mimail-J (Mimail variant) 2.4 per cent
9. W32/Klez-H (Klez variant) 2.2 per cent
10. W32/Mimail-E (Mimail variant) 1.5 per cent
Others 22.1 per cent
Comments
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1. anonymous
With all these viruses doing the rounds, one has to wonder how concerned the anti virus vendors are. I appreciate that the creators of most viruses are very sad people, but it does beg the question as to whether the market is fed by the AV people.
After all, if there were no viruses or malicious code, the people who fight them would have no sales and there would be no industry for them.
Do the people who write the virusus realise that they are actually creating revenue and business for the AV companies, by virtue of the fact that virtually every sensible computer owner has up to date AV software.. Are they in league with them ??
It stands to reason that the AV companies welcome new strains of this and that.. Does make one wonder.