Zotob worm failed to make a big impact

The list of 10 most dangerous 31-day virus variants of security firm Sophos shows that Netsky.P continues to dominate, although many experts predict August will be Zotob's month.

Netsky.P, the "achievement" of the young German hacker who was suspended, Sven Jaschan, once again took the top spot despite a slight increase from 13.9% in July to 14.7%. last month.

The Zotob versions raging in the last two weeks are not enough to get into the list despite the press's attention and have succeeded in interfering with many major news agencies. Meanwhile, Mytob is still the biggest risk for computer users, accounting for 54% of all viruses that Sophos recorded last month.

In addition, Sophos research shows that Zotob worm authors are directly related to Mytob. "Mytob and Zotob can spread in many ways, but the source code is very similar," said Carole Theriault, Sophos' security advisor. "Furthermore, Zotob's Diabl0 nickname appears in more than 20 variants of Mytob, indicating that they are clearly created from a single source."

The number of computer worm victims has dropped significantly in August, at a rate of about 1.99%, meaning that every 50 new e-mail messages contain a virus, compared with 38 e-mails in May. " not a positive sign that dangerous program writers are giving up their intention to invade the PC system, just because August is the ideal summer holiday for many, "Theriault explained. "When owners enjoy cocktails in the sun on a sandy beach, computers are allowed to rest."

Sophos has recorded and handled 1,626 new viruses in the past month. The total number of viruses the company has killed so far is 109,244.

The 10 most dangerous viruses in August (in brackets are the rate of notifications received by Sophos):

1. Netsky.P (14.7%)
2. Mytob.AS (7.9%)
3. Mytob.BE (7.2%)
4. Zafi.D (3.6%)
5. Zafi.B (2.9%)
6. Mytob.C (2.8%)
7. Mytob.EP (2.8%)
8. Mytob.CX (2.7%)
9. Netsky.D (2.5%)
10. Mytob.CJ (2.4%)

Other types: 49.5%

TN (according to Sophos)