[virusinfo] Panda Top Ten viruses most frequently detected by Pan da ActiveScan in February - 03/04/05
- From: "Mike" <mikebike@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: virusinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 05 Mar 2005 15:27:41 -0800
From;
Panda; Oxygen3:
"As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is,
but how good it is, is what matters."
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (2 BC - 65 AD); Roman philosopher.
- Top Ten viruses most frequently detected
by Panda ActiveScan in February -
Oxygen3 24h-365d, by Panda Software (http://www.pandasoftware.com)
Madrid, March 4, 2005 - According to the data gathered by Panda ActiveScan,
the free online antivirus solution, in February, Downloader.GK was the
malicious code responsible for most attacks on users' computers for the
ninth month running. It is also worth noting the prominence of the
Downloader family -with four of the top ten places- and the dominance of
Trojans in general.
Over the past month, Downloader.GK has caused just over 4.5 percent of
incidents, a significant drop with respect to the figure in January, which
was around 8.5 percent. Close up in second place came Mhtredir.gen (4.03%),
a generic detection for a family of Trojans, followed by the Shinwow.E
Trojan (3.48%), and the only two worms that appear in the ranking: Netsky.P
(3.27%) and Sdbot.ftp (3.04%).
The remaining five places in the Panda ActiveScan Top Ten for February are
occupied by the Trojans Zpachast.D, Downloader.LP, Downloader.ALQ, Qhost.gen
and WmvDownloader.A-, with frequency ratings ranging from 1.52 to 2.17
percent.
The following points stand out from the data collected by Panda ActiveScan
in February:
- Strong presence of the Downloader family of Trojans.
The GK variant of Downloader tops the February ranking, which also includes
three other members of the same family. This prominence could be largely due
to the numerous malicious actions that Downloader Trojans can take, such as
downloading other malware (adware, spyware, etc.) onto compromised systems,
making them especially useful for their creators who are therefore busy
generating new variants. In fact, this month's ranking includes two
relatively new variants: WmvDownloader.A and Downloader.ALQ, which first
appeared in mid-January and early February respectively.
- Trojan dominance.
Eight of the ten malicious code in the ranking are Trojans, as opposed to
six in January. This shows a continuation of the trend that started in June
2004, when Trojans began to take over from worms as the most frequently
detected infectors. The overriding presence of Trojans in the Panda
ActiveScan Top Ten reflects the intense activity of cyber-crooks, seeking
financial gain by exploiting the fact that Trojans can be used to steal
confidential data which can then be used fraudulently.
- Additional threats.
As was the case in January, several of the most prominent Trojans in
February download and run other types of malware, such as spyware, on users'
computers. The main consequence of spyware on PCs is the gathering of
information, including confidential details. If these effects are cause for
concern in home computers, in corporate environments they can result in
serious financial losses, given the time taken by IT staff to resolve the
problem and regain control of the system and the loss of productivity of
employees trying to work their way through the annoying distractions that
these programs create (redirecting websites, pop-ups, etc). More serious
still, the theft of confidential information, including passwords, means
that administrators need to keep a constant watch over each and every
computer to prevent this kind of attack.
To help as many users as possible keep their systems virus free, Panda
Software offers Panda ActiveScan, which now also detects spyware, free of
charge at http://www.pandasoftware.com. Webmasters who would like to include
ActiveScan on their websites can get the HTML code, free of charges, at
http://www.pandasoftware.com/partners/webmasters.
Panda Software also offers users Virus Alerts, an e-bulletin in English and
Spanish that gives immediate warning of the emergence of potentially
dangerous malicious code. To receive Virus Alerts just visit Panda
Software's website (http://www.pandasoftware.com) and complete the
corresponding form in the Virus Alerts section.
For more information about these and other malicious code, visit Panda
Software's Virus Encyclopedia at:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/encyclopedia.
NOTE: The address above may not show up on your screen as a single line.
This would prevent you from using the link to access the web page. If this
happens, just use the 'cut' and 'paste' options to join the pieces of the
URL.
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The 5 viruses most frequently detected by Panda ActiveScan, Panda Software's
free online scanner: 1) Netsky.P; 2) Mhtredir.gen; 3) Downloader.GK; 4)
IEstart.D; 5) Shinwow.E.
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To contact with Panda Software, please visit:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/about/contact/
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