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30 May 2003

Top ten viruses and hoaxes reported to Sophos in May 2003

New entries Sobig-B and Fizzer dominate this month's chart

For May 2003, the virus chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:

Position Last
month		 Malware Percentage of reports
1NewW32/Sobig-B
   19.9%
2NewW32/Fizzer-A
   9.8%
31W32/Klez-H
   7.1%
42W32/Lovgate-E
   4.2%
54W32/Sobig-A
   3.1%
65=W32/ElKern-C
   2.4%
73W32/Bugbear-A
   1.9%
8NewW32/Yaha-P
   1.6%
9Re-entryW32/Nimda-D
   1.4%
10Re-entryW32/Opaserv-G
   1.1%
Others47.5%

"May saw two new entries at the top of the chart - Sobig-B and Fizzer," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus. "Disguised as a message from Microsoft technical support, Sobig-B spreads quickly via email and network shares. Fizzer, meanwhile, exploited email and the KaZaA file-sharing network. Both of these prove that it isn't enough just to block your email gateway - companies should ensure the virus protection on their desktops is automatically updated."

Sophos detected 611 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses in May. The total number it now protects against is 82,048.

The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during May 2003 are as follows:

Position Hoax Percentage of reports
1Nokia giveaway

  11.7%
2JDBGMGR

  11.6%
3Meninas da Playboy

  11.4%
4Hotmail hoax

  8.5%
5WTC Survivor

  6.3%
6Budweiser frogs screensaver

  5.5%
7Bonsai kitten

  4.1%
8A virtual card for you

  4.0%
9Frog in a blender/Fish in a bowl

  3.0%
10Applebees Gift Certificate

  2.4%
Others31.5%

"A chain letter claiming to offer a free Nokia mobile phone has stormed to the very top of the hoax charts this month," said Cluley. "The Nokia Giveaway chain letter has even managed to topple JDBGMGR, one of the most persistent hoaxes of all time."

Sophos has made available a free, constantly updated information feed for intranets and websites which means users can always find out about the latest viruses and hoaxes.

Graphics of the virus top ten chart are available here.

More information about safe computing, including anti-hoax policies.

About Sophos

Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com