Panda ActiveScan Top 10 Viruses in January 2004

Throughout the last week in January, Mydoom.A has been responsible for one of the worst computer virus epidemics of all times. The impact of this worm has driven Downloader.L from first place in the Top Ten ranking of the viruses most frequently detected by Panda ActiveScan.

In January 2004, according to the data gathered by Panda Software’s free online virus scanner, Mydoom.A has caused almost ten percent of all incidents, while Downloader.L was responsible for more than seven and a half percent. These two were followed by Bugbear.B (4.49%), Parite.B (4.22%) and Klez.I (3.27%). The Top Ten list was completed by: Runet.A, Blaster, Blaster.E, Bookmark.B and Sober.C.

The following conclusions can be drawn from the data gathered by Panda ActiveScan:

– Dominance of Mydoom.A. Despite having first appeared on January 26, the speed at which it has spread has seen it overtake Downloader.L, which headed the ranking until the appearance of Mydoom.
– Three of the first five places in the ranking are still held by viruses that have been around for a while: Bugbear.B and Parite.B, which go back to June 2003 and November 2001 respectively, and Klez.I, first detected in April 2002. The continuing prevalence of these malicious code indicates how many computers lack adequate or properly updated antivirus protection.

– As opposed to previous monthly Panda ActiveScan Top Tens, five of the first 10 were first detected quite recently: Mydoom.A (January 2004), Downloader.L, Bookmark.B and Sober.C (December 2003), and Runet.A (November 2003).

Virus % frequency
W32/Mydoom.A.worm 9.51%
Trj/Downloader.L 7.53%
W32/Bugbear.B 4.49%
W32/Parite.B 4.22%
W32/Klez.I 3.27%
Trj/Runet.A 2.72%
W32/Blaster 2.47%
W32/Blaster.E 2.36%
Trj/Bookmark.B 2.32%
W32/Sober.C.worm 2.29%