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BitDefender released its monthly listing of the top ten viruses reported for June 2003

July Evil Top Ten from BitDefender
BitDefender, a leading provider of security related software and services today released its monthly listing of the top ten viruses reported for July 2003. The report, denominated the "Evil Top Ten", is based on the number of virus occurrences confirmed through BitDefender Response Team tracking.

July apparently did not rise to the level of expectations virus analysts had foreseen. No new entry, no uproar, no malware waves...

Virus positioning, as one can see below, has suffered limited changes since last month ranking.

As you can see below, BugBear.B has already overtaken Klez, but still many sceptics concur in some sort of brand faithfulness for the number one longevity virus so far:



So far, this month has only put us to the test of keeping a closer watch on previous viral releases, such as BugBear.B, a worm that proved its high damaging potential as stated when first infections were reported worldwide.

After having assisted to such a challenging stage in July, one could say that even virus authors decided to go on vacation. The lack of activity in this sector can only be interpreted as a good sign in terms of user appreciation of this moment. However, this is by no means a �Relax, fellows!� time for virus reaserchers, as new flaws can always turn into wide invitations for any virus writer. Not later than last Friday, Chinese X Focus security group released a source code designed to allow remote intrusions on Windows computers. The flaw is in a component of the operating system that allows other computers to request the Windows system perform an action or service. The component, known as the remote procedure call (RPC) process, facilitates such activities such as sharing files and allowing others to use the computer's printer. By sending too much data to the RPC process, an attacker can cause the system to grant full access to the system. So far Microsoft has already provided a series of dedicated patches for this vulnerability: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp, but, considering the size of the flaw, it appears to be quite a tough job for network administrators to implement it in somewhat larger companies...As security researchers warn, there is probably much to be heard from this new breach...

However, future threats come with �potential� level attributes, which don�t steal from us the tranquility moment that July has somehow represented.
As I like to say sometimes: let�s see things on the bright side. No news so far meant somehow good news, at least for all users tired of dealing with newer and newer protection requirements. And for antivirus development, it was an appropiate period for in-depth analysis and preparation for whatever events that are to come...

But then again, if that proves right, it is probably to be discussed in our August issue.
Until then, we prefer to keep you still curious and perfectly protected.

Note: BitDefender users were protected since the very beginning against the threats described above. Moreover, BitDefender experts were the first to release antidote tools, freely available on the Internet.

Commercial versions of BitDefender start from USD 29.99 and are available for 30-days free evaluation from www.bitdefender.com.


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