Bugbear has become the top internet worm, ending Klez’s seven month reign, reports Sophos. The Bugbear worm is particularly devious and able to spread in a variety of ways.
“After seven months at the top, Klez-H has finally been knocked off its perch by the Bugbear worm,” says Natasha Staley, anti-virus consultant, Sophos Anti-Virus.
“Bugbear is a box of tricks that not only spreads via email and network shares but can also log the victim’s keystrokes — allowing hackers to monitor everything a user types from passwords to bank account details.”
The Bugbear worm exploits vulnerabilities in Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and Internet Explorer in order to spread. Anti-virus vendors released patches to fight off Bugbear as soon as it was discovered, but some companies have yet to download. Maintaining patch levels is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to secure a network.
Bugbear accounted for 77.6% of all reports to Sophos, with Klez coming a distant second with 6.2%. Newcomer, Opaserv was third with 2.2% and Yaha climbed from September’s number 7 to claim fourth spot with 1.1%.
In total, Sophos detected 824 new viruses worms and Trojan horses in October. It now offer protection against 77,564 different viruses.
