It seems that the end is near for mass email-spreading worms, as spyware now accounts for 86% of all infections recorded by the UK security firm Sophos in April.
Sophos’s statistics on dangerous software attacks last month show that NetSky.P – a virus that has wreaked havoc for the past two years – continues to be the number one threat to computers, reclaiming its position at the top and replacing Zafi.B. However, the overall number of email viruses continues to decline, replaced instead by the spread of Trojans that hackers use to download malicious code, monitor user activities, or take control of computers.
“Email viruses occupy the top spots in the dangerous software rankings for April, but Trojans are truly the biggest threat to cybersecurity,” said Carole Theriault, a technology consultant at Sophos. “These spyware programs are being increasingly developed and becoming more sophisticated to target specific objectives. They are harder to detect than viruses, making them more accessible to a larger number of victims.”
The ranking of the 10 most dangerous software in April saw the return of two Mytob variants, Mytob.C and Mytob.AS, alongside a new entry, the email worm Dolebot.A.
According to Sophos, on average, 1 in every 141 emails circulating last month contained a virus. The number of new email attack software that emerged in the month was 1,054, bringing the total number of email viruses identified by Sophos to 121,096.
Top 10 most dangerous viruses in April 2006 (with the percentage of reports received by Sophos in parentheses):
1. Netsky.P (18.5%)
2. Zafi.B (16.9%)
3. Nyxem.D (8.5%)
4. MyDoom.AJ (3.9%)
5. NetSky.D (3.9%)
6. Mytob.FO (3.6%)
7. Mytob.C (2.8%)
8. Mytob.Z (2.6%)
9. Dolebot.A (2.2%)
10. Mytob.AS (1.3%)Others: 35.8%.
P.K.
