Virus top 10: Zafi still clinging onto Xmas

A Christmas-themed variant of the Zafi virus continued to plague networks and systems long after the last of the turkey had been eaten, accounting for almost half the virus reports in January.

January was the second consecutive month Zafi.D topped the virus charts, as it took advantage of a seasonal dip in user vigilance, masquerading as a Christmas greeting to trick users into thinking they were receiving an e-card from a friend.

An increasing trend towards shutting down offices over Christmas likely means January's Zafi.D traffic, which made up 44 per cent of all virus reports, owed much to users catching up on emails which arrived in the lead-up to Christmas upon their return in early January.

According to the figures from Sophos the rest of the list featured all the big hitters from 2004, with Netsky, Bagle, MyDoom and Sober all appearing with at least one variant each.

Netsky.P is second on the list, despite protection being available for 11 months.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: "Netsky.P is still causing considerable nuisance. Protection against this worm has been available since March 2004, but unfortunately it seems there will always be computers connected to the internet which are poorly defended, enabling the worm to continue to spread."

The full top ten for January 2005 looks like this:

1. Zafi.D - 44.0 per cent
2. Netsky.P - 19.4 per cent
3. Zafi.B - 10.1 per cent
4. Sober.I - 6.3 per cent
5. Netsky.D - 3.2 per cent
6. Netsky.Z - 3.1 per cent
7. Bagle.AA - 2.1 per cent
8. Netsky.B - 1.9 per cent
9. MyDoom.O - 1.2 per cent
10. Netsky.C - 1.1 per cent