Virus Top 10: 'Latest hit list far from the last'

Sophos has claimed its latest virus top 10 is proof that reports on the death of email-borne viruses have been grossly exaggerated.

Many high-profile attendees at last week's InfoSecurity Europe show predicted such worms and viruses may have had their day, but with one new entry in the Sophos top 10 the company argues it's a method of infection that will never go away.

The top 10 also shows a number of lingering infections. Zafi-D has crowned the threat-list for the past five months, while six Netsky viruses are hanging around like a bad smell.

It is this stagnation and a lack of emerging email virus threats that has certainly led many to believe the virus writers may now have turned their attention away from email.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, told silicon.com: "There are increased instances of internet worms but that isn't instead of email viruses. Far from it."

"There is a danger that if security experts play down the threat of email viruses they could make businesses complacent about securing their email gateways."

"It would be daft to only scan email for viruses, but it's equally bonkers to suggest that 'the end is nigh' for email viruses."

However, proponents of email virus demise theories don't deny they continue to be a problem but liken it to gun shots after the official cease-fire of any war. It is likely older viruses would continue to propagate for years after their 'death' due to poorly protected machines and infected systems.

Larry Bridwell, content security programs manager at ICSA Labs, who was quoted in the original silicon.com article, said: "If virus writers stopped writing tomorrow the antivirus industry would keep going for another 10 years."

The Top 10 virus threats for April were as follows:

1 Zafi-D (46.6 per cent of all reported infections)
2 Netsky-P (20.6 per cent)
3 Zafi-B (4.5 per cent)
3 Netsky-D (4.5 per cent)
5 Netsky-Z (2.5 per cent)
6 Netsky-B (2.4 per cent)
7 Mytob-Z (1.3 per cent) NEW ENTRY
8 MyDoom-O (1.2 per cent)
9 Netsky-C (1.1 per cent)
10 Netsky-Q (1.0 per cent)

Others: 14.3 per cent