Posted: 28th Feb, 2003 By: MarkJ
Anti-Virus firm Central Command has today released details of the Top 12 (Dirty Dozen) Internet viruses for February 2003:
Central Command Releases Its Dirty Dozen - Top 12 - Viruses For February 2003
Worm/Klez.E Stays On Top, Celebrity Worm Causes Unnecessary Confusion For Users
Central Command, a leading provider of PC anti-virus software and computer security services today released its monthly listing of the top twelve viruses reported for February 2003. The report, coined the "Dirty Dozen", is based on the number of virus occurrences confirmed through Central Command's Emergency Virus Response Team.
The table below represents the most prevalent viruses for February 2003, number one being the most frequent.
Ranking / Virus Name / Percentage
1. Worm/Klez.E (incl. G variant) 34.3%
2. W32/Yaha.E 14.1%
3. Worm/Yaha.M2 10.6%
4. Worm/Avril.A 8.3%
5. Worm/Sobig.A 6.5%
6. Worm/Bugbear 3.2%
7. Worm/Avril.B 3.1%
8. W32/Nimda 1.6%
9. W32/Funlove 1.2%
10. Worm/Sircam.C 0.9%
11. W32/Elkern.C 0.7%
12. Worm/Badtrans.B 0.7%
--- Others 14.8%
"In February, Central Command saw no new entries to our released Dirty Dozen report." said Steven Sundermeier product manager at Central Command, Inc. "Unforutnately, the biggest new virus stir this month was created for an Internet worm that was never seen outside a virus lab, the so-called Catherine Zeta Jones [W32/Igloo.B] worm." Discovered on February 13, W32/Igloo.B is an Internet worm that utilizes the file-sharing program Kazaa to spread. It copies itself on the infected machine under a long list of filenames including the likes of; Britney Spears, Shakira and Pamela Anderson. "It is unclear why Catherine Zeta Jones name was arbitrarily selected from the list of exploited names. It could of just as easily been called the Sandra Bullock or Sarah Michelle Gellar worm."
Worm/Klez.E once again topped the charts and accounted for 34.3% of all total virus infection reports for February. Making a re-entry into the Dirty Dozen was Worm/Badtrans.B, an Internet worm that made its first appearance back in November 2001.