Sophos Unveils Top 10 Threats

BOSTON -- Sophos, world leader in integrated threat management solutions, today revealed the most prevalent malware threats causing problems for computer users around the world during January 2007.

The figures, compiled from SophosLabs™, Sophos’s global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, show the recently discovered Dorf malware soaring to the top of the monthly malware threat chart. Dorf now accounts for nearly 50 percent of all malware seen in January, suggesting a massive impact on computer users worldwide.

January 2007 Highlights:

• New threats identified by Sophos: 7,272
• Total number of malware protected against by Sophos: 214,956
• Top malware: Dorf takes top slot, comprising 46.1%
• Over 2,500 variants of Dorf malware detected; almost a third of all new threats identified
• Sophos's Behavioral Genotype™ identified and stopped the majority of Dorf variants

Aggressively spammed out, The Dorf malware posed as breaking news of deaths caused by stormy European weather during January. Later in the month, the authors switched gears and launched another campaign disguising the malware as a romantic email greeting card. Elsewhere in the top ten, the Netsky, Mytob and Stratio malware remain deeply rooted in second, third and fourth place respectively. These three malware accounted for one third of all malware reports.

The top ten list of January 2007 malware threats reads as follows: