Two years on, Netsky-P tops virus charts

Netsky-P led the top 10 chart for malicious software threats in August, retaining its rank despite the availability of fixes for more than two years, CNET reports.

During August, Netsky-P accounted for 19.9% of all malicious software incidents reported, according to a report released Friday. Netsky-P, which remains the most widely spread of the e-mail worms, was ranked the worst virus of 2004.

Just one in 278 e-mails were infected during the month, a significant decrease compared with August 2005 when one in every 50 e-mails circulating were viral, according to one security researcher.

The researcher identified a total of 1,998 new threats in August 2006, with Trojan horses accounting for 71.8% of those threats.

“It is certainly frustrating that such easily beaten threats are still plaguing our e-mail highways, ” said one senior security consultant in a statement.