
Pairs up with Zafi for double-headed virus dominance
By Jo Best
Published: 1 November 2004 11:54 GMT
Zafi.B and Netsky.P have managed to notch up another month on top of the chart for the worst malware mischief-making.
According to infections reported to antivirus firm Sophos during October, Netksy.P - first sighted in March of this year - has taken the top spot with over 35 per cent of infections and Zafi-B - first spotted in June - follows up in second place with 28 per cent.
Both viruses have stayed in the top 10 since they first surfaced in the wild, although Zafi.B had been leading the virus pack until this month.
Netsky.P spreads via email by harvesting addresses from local drives. The virus saves itself to peer-to-peer shared networks with a variety of filenames, including supposed references to sexual antics of pop stars including Britney Spears and Eminem; Harry Potter; software cracks; the Atkins diet; and others.
With numerous versions of the Netsky virus available in the wild, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said it was difficult to see why the P variant was so successful.
"I believe it simply reached a critical mass earlier than other versions, and has successfully managed to embed itself on computers which are failing to be secured with the latest antivirus updates," he said.
October's virus chart in full:
Netsky.P 35.2 per cent
Zafi.B 28.0 per cent
Netsky.D 7.0 per cent
Netsky.Z 5.8 per cent
Bagle.AA 4.4 per cent
Netsky.B 3.9 per cent
Netsky.Q 2.6 per cent
MyDoom.O 2.2 per cent
Netsky.C 1.9 per cent
Bagle.Zip 1.0 per cent
Others 31.4 per cent
There will be opportunities to mentor junior staff within the team.Key Accountabilities:o Install and configure all Firewalls and Guard Servers to ...
Symantec, Sophos and McAfee, Citrix, Server Hardware, Desktop Hardware, Storage Hardware, Cisco and or SQL. Experience to any of the following would ...
There will be opportunities to mentor junior staff within the team.Accountabilities* Install and configure all Firewalls and Guard Servers to support ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Bob Tarzey Why you must rein in your power users When they do damage, it can be catastrophic to your business
Jon Collins Is losing a mobile device really such a big deal? How to minimise the damage to your business