Sobig storms virus chart

The latest variant of the Sobig worm has made a big impact in this month's virus chart – heading straight in at number one. The new entry in the virus world has made it from nowhere to July's most frequently occurring malware.

Sobig-E, which turns up in users inboxes with the subject line Re: Movie or Re: Application, has hit individuals, rather than businesses, hard with home users many times more likely to report the worm.

The virus affects PC users and can arrive via email or shared network files and anti-virus companies were alarmed at how fast it spread when it first appeared in June.

Others from the Sobig family are also acting as the scourge of the security world, with three variants of the worm also in the top ten and making up over half of reported viruses, according to the figures compiled by Sophos. Nevertheless, virus chart staple Klez-H is still putting in a strong performance after 18 months infecting PCs.

July's full chart:

1. W32/Sobig-E 47.8 per cent 2. W32/Bugbear-B 11.0 per cent 3. W32/Klez-H 5.9 per cent 4. W32/Sobig-A 2.7 per cent 5= W32/Parite-B 0.9 per cent 5= W32/Sobig-B 0.9 per cent 7. W32/Ganda-A 0.8 per cent 8= W32/Opaserv-G 0.7 per cent 8= W32/Sobig-D 0.7 per cent 8= W95/Dupator 0.7 per cent

Others 29.9 per cent