Warezov remains top of virus list

Virus accounts for 29 per cent of all traffic

Christmas proved to be a real family affair for viruses as Warezov variants dominated the virus top 20 in December, according to internet security company, Kaspersky Lab.

Warezov.fb, Warezov.dn and Warezov.hb occupied the top three positions respectively, and accounted for more than one-third (39 per cent) of all viruses in the final month of 2006.

Nyxem.e has become less widespread. After its return to the virus top 20 in November, it dropped 13 places to number 16 just one month later. Its old rival, Mytob.c, which in November made a strong return to sixth place, lost only a little ground and dropped to seventh.

Nyxem.E and Mytob.C, which fought bitter battles for the top position during the first nine months of 2006, will leave the top 20 in 2007, as will Zafi.b according to kapersky Lab.

NetSky.q has gone up and down the upper half of the rankings in recent months and looks set to create problems for email users for a long time to come, despite the fact that it was created as far back as 2004. Two more historical worms, LovGate.w and Mytob.t, are also present in December’s top 20.

New worm Bagle.gt is the first member of its family to become one of the leaders in the virus race in the past several months. Bagle and Warezov are direct competitors, which means that there may be another cyberwar being fought between criminal groups trying to gain access to PCs and the data stored on them.

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