This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down the tenmost frequently occurring viruses as compiled by Sophos, a world leaderin corporate anti-virus protection. Starting this month, Sophos is alsoissuing a top ten of virus hoaxes.




For April 2002, the virus chart is as follows, with the most frequentlyoccurring virus at number one:




1. W32/Klez-G (Klez variants G & H) 77.8%


2. W32/Klez-E (Klez variant) 5.8%


3. W32/Badtrans-B (Badtrans variant) 4.7%


4. W32/Elkern-C (Elkern variant) 0.9%


5. W32/Magistr-B (Magistr variant) 0.8%


6= W32/Klez (Klez) 0.7%


6= W32/MyLife-F (MyLife variant) 0.7%


8= W32/Magistr-A (Magistr variant) 0.5%


8= W32/Sircam-A (Sircam variant) 0.5%


8= W32/Nimda-D (Nimda variant) 0.5%




Others: 7.1%




"The various manifestations of the Klez worm dominate April's viruschart with variants taking up the number one, two and six slots," saidGraham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus."Klez-H was the hard hitter; some commentators went so far as to callthis the biggest worm in the world ever. In reality, the success ofKlez-H is damning evidence that computer users are failing to keep theiranti-virus software up-to-date. Sophos issued protection for variant G- which also protects against Klez-H - back in early February."




The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during April 2002 are as follows:




1. A virtual card for you 30.5%


2. Budweiser frogs screensaver 6.6%


3. SULFNBK 5.8%


4. WTC Survivor 2.5%


5. JDBGMGR 2.0%


6. Perrin.exe 1.8%


7. Hotmail hoax 1.6%


8. It Takes Guts to Say Jesus 1.4%


9. A Vida é Bela 1.3%


10. Loft Story 1.3%




Others: 45.2%




"Virus hoaxes - emails warning of highly destructive but mythicalviruses - spread and cause havoc because users are duped into thinkingthe warnings are real. In some instances, hoaxes can be as disruptiveand costly as genuine viruses," said Cluley. "'A virtual card for you'was first reported in December 2000, but it is still catching users out.Introducing an anti-hoax policy will limit the harm done."




474 new viruses were discovered and protected against by SophosAnti-Virus during April 2002. The total number of viruses Sophos nowdetects and protects against is 73,553.




For more information about Klez, please visit:


http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32klezg.html




Graphics of the above Top Ten virus chart are available at:


http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/imgallery/topten




For more information about safe computing, including anti-hoax policies,visit: http://www.sophos.com/safecomputing




Compiled by Sophos's technical support team, the top ten chart iscollated from submissions to Sophos's 24 hour, 365 days a year technicalsupport service.




ABOUT SOPHOS:


Sophos is one of the world's largest specialist developers of anti-virussoftware. Headquartered in the UK, its products are sold and supportedthrough a global network of subsidiaries and partners in more than 150countries. Sophos solutions are specifically designed to protectbusinesses and organisations from virus attack. The company's productsare widely deployed by large corporations, banks and governments.




For further information, please visit http://www.sophos.com