The Deadly Duo - Spam and Viruses

12/16/2004

Holiday season drives a higher than expected spike in spam volume.

By: Rob McGanns.

That spike in spam activity went above the expected seasonal increase during the holiday shopping season, said Steve Kahan, vice president of Postini.

"We saw a pretty significant increase in attacks, specifically on small- and medium-sized businesses in November," Kahan said. "Unlike the larger corporations, a lot of small- and mid-sized players don't have the resources to combat these kinds of attacks."

Spam volume had been on the decline for the two preceding months, falling to 69 percent of all e-mail traffic in October, according to Postini data.

Spam by Country

A new report by anti-spam/virus software company Sophos, meanwhile, finds that the United States continues to lead the world in originating these spam attacks, accounting for over two out of every five (42.1 percent) spam e-mails sent throughout the world. South Korea was second with just under 14 percent (13.4 percent), followed by China (including Hong Kong), which originated 8.4 percent.

Top Spamming Coutries
(Country; Percentage)

United States 42.1%
South Korea 13.4%
China incl. Hong Kong 8.4%
Canada 5.7%
Brazil 3.3%
Japan 2.5%
France 1.3%
Spain 1.1%
United Kingdom 1.1%
Germany 1.1%
Other 19.6%
Source: Sophos Plc.

Top Viruses of 2004

Among the most prevalent viruses of the year, variants of the Worm/Netsky virus captured five of the top ten slots for 2004. German teenager Sven Jaschen, who reportedly confessed to writing the Netsky and Sasser worms, was responsible for more than 55 percent of all virus reports for 2004.

Top Ten Viruses Reported to Sophos in 2004
(Viruse; Percentage)

Worm/Netsky.P 22.6%
Worm/Zafi.B 18.8%
Worm/Sasser 14.2%
Worm/Netsky.B 7.4%
Worm/Netsky.D 6.1%
Worm/Netsky.Z 3.7%
Worm/MyDoom.A 2.4%
Worm/Sober.I 1.9%
Worm/Netsky.C 1.8%
Worm/Bagle.AA 1.6%
Others 19.5%
Source: Sophos Plc.

Leading Viruses in November

In November, Jaschen's Worm/Netsky.P virus, eight months after its discovery, was the most widespread, accounting for 26.3 percent of all attacks. Second on the list, was the Worm/Sober.I virus, which although discovered on November 19, accounted for 17.5 percent of virus attacks for the month, according to Central Command.

"Arguably the only major virus outbreak of the fall season, Worm/Sober.I had an immediate impact," said Steven Sundermermeier, vice president of products and services at Central Command.

November 2004 Dirty Dozen
(Ranking; Virus Name; Percentage)

1. Worm/Netsky.P 26.3%
2. Worm/Sober.I 17.5%
3. Worm/Bagle.AT 11.6%
4. Worm/Bagle.AP 9.1%
5. Worm/Zafi.B 6.9%
6. Worm/Bagle.AA 4.4%
7. Worm/Netsky.D 2.3%
8. Worm/Netsky.Z 2.2%
9. Worm/Netsky.A 1.8%
10. Worm/Lovgate.W 1.5%
11. Worm/MyDoom.AE 1.1%
12. Tr/Phish.BankFr.eml 0.8%
Others 14.5%
Note: The table above represents the most prevalent
viruses for November 2004, number one being the
most frequent.
Source: Central Command Inc.

Source of Article: ClickZ

Date of Article: December 13, 2004