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 Netsky tops virus charts for the year
December 13, 2004
The number of new viruses found since the start of 2004 has grown 52 percent, with Netsky-P virus claiming top spot in virus popularity rankings as reported Wednesday by security software maker Sophos.
Netsky-P represented 22.6 percent of all virus incidents reported to Sophos, the company had said. Netsky-P was first spotted in March, and has since sprung into more than 30 variations of the original mass-mailing worm, which debuted in February.
"It is simply shocking that Netsky-P and Zafi-B are still infecting computers, months after they were first protected against by antivirus companies," said Graham Cluley, Sophos senior technology consultant. "This indicates most people have still not updated their antivirus, and we believe it's mainly coming from home users, who then spread them to businesses. People should update their antivirus several times a day."
Zafi-B, a mass-mailing worm, ranked second, accounting for nearly 19 percent of all virus outbreaks this year, according to the report. Sasser, a fast-spreading virus that debuted in April, accounted for nearly 14 percent of virus reports and was ranked third respectively.
The author of two medalists winning popularity rankings for virus popularity is the famous hacker Sven Jaschan, the self-confessed creator of the Netsky and Sasser worms, who awaits trial next year and being controversially hired by the German software security company.
Although the person is on the opposite side of the security business now, his recently written viruses continue their domination across home PCs, -accounting for more than 50 percent of all virus reports this year, according to Sophos.
Sophos detected a total of 10,724 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses in 2004--a 51.8 percent increase over last year. The company expects the number of new viruses to remain at a similar level next year, with the intent of virus writers being shifted to one of financial gain, rather than mere bragging rights, Graham Cluley said. "When the commercial world gets involved, things really get nasty. Virus writers and hackers will be looking to make a tidy sum," he added.
But the report also noted that government authorities are likely to become more heavily involved in capturing and convicting such virus writers.
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