July 2001 Top Ten Sizzles

The July Top-Ten-frequently-occurring-viruses list has just been released, and here it is as compiled by the anti-virus software developer, Sophos.

Coming in at a whopping 62.5% of reported infections, thus, claiming the top spot in its debut month, is I-Worm.SirCam. This was mostly due to user distraction caused by the Code Red/Bady media hype.

Remaining on the chart, dropping one notch from last month, is I-Worm.Magistr at 10.4%. In the third slot is I-Worm.Hybris at 4.1%; and completing the first half of the July chart are I-Worm.Badtrans at 2.8% and I-Worm.MTX (a.k.a. Apology) at 1.9%.

The Top Ten is rounded out by positions six through ten by the following malicious code: WScript.KakWorm at 1.4%; the Badtrans-dropped Trojan, Keylog at 1%; the joke program HHold, which is NOT a virus, but does cause user alarm, at .8%; and Win32.FunLove (a.k.a. Flcss and Fun Loving Criminals) and Worm.Qaz at .7% each respectively.

The remaining 11% of virus infections reported is occupied by various other worms and Trojans. Be sure to tune in next month for the summary of virus activity for the dog days of August.

Kaspersky researchers have discovered new Mirage Kitten attacks using previously undocumented malware families: NodeRabbit in Node.js and PollCat in JavaScript.

Our experts discovered a new CoolClient backdoor variant with a kernel-mode rootkit driver that hides malicious processes, files, and network connections from security tools and threat analysts.

Kaspersky experts break down a new Armored Likho campaign that poses as a fundraising efforts and delivers a new Still Toolkit aimed at stealing Telegram data and eavesdropping on victims.

Kaspersky researchers reveal previously undocumented malware attributed to Mirage Kitten (UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, Nimbus Manticore): NightLedger backdoor, ArcBridge, and BridgeHead tunneling tools.