Nimda, Sircam Hogged Sophos Helpdesk in 2001 -- Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine Online

Nimda, Sircam Hogged Sophos Helpdesk in 2001

By Scott Bekker
11/27/2001

Without waiting for the year to be over, corporate anti-virus vendor Sophos is out with its Top 10 virus chart for 2001. The most troublesome virus, as determined by reports to the Sophos' helpdesk, was Nimda.

"Nimda's anonymous author only unleashed his creation in September, yet it still represented more than a quarter of all reports to the Sophos helpdesk," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus, said in a statement. "Nimda was effective because it could infect computers using a variety of techniques. It is likely that we will see more multiple pronged attacks in the future."

The Sircam virus ran a close second to Nimda in total reports, and the two viruses accounted for more than 57 percent of all Sophos' helpdesk action in 2001.

Sophos notes that Code Red, the most hyped virus of the year, did not appear in its Top 10.

The firm reports that it has detected 11,160 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses this year, bringing its protected total to almost 70,000.

Sophos 2001 Virus Chart

1. Nimda (27.2 percent)

2. Sircam (20.3 percent)

3. Magistr (12.0 percent)

4. Hybris (6.2 percent)

5. Apology (3.8 percent)

6. Homepage (3.6 percent)

7. Kakworm (3.1 percent)

8. Kournikova (2.0 percent)

9. Badtrans (1.8 percent)