WebProNews

The monthly review of viruses and hoaxes by security software firm Sophos also shows numerous Mytob variants in the virus list.

Netsky-P occupies the top spot in the Sophos figures for July. That worm contained Sasser, which caused problems for Windows computers worldwide.

A German court recently handed down a 21-month suspended sentence to its creator, deeming the creation of the worm while he was still 17 superceded his having turned 18 when he released the worm online.

But Mytob, which filled inboxes everywhere with German hate messages, had seven of its variants in the Sophos top 10 list. In a statement, Sophos security consultant Carole Theriault noted still another Mytob variant has been detected.

"The sheer volume and range of the Mytob worms sees them hog most positions in the virus chart. It's not the viciousness of the worm that is the problem, but the constant onslaught of slightly differing variants," said Ms. Theriault in a statement.

"This month's only new entry into the chart is another family member - Mytob-CX, and despite accounting for only 3.2% of viruses in July, it shows that the Mytob threat continues to plague computer users."

Hoaxes that play on people's emotions end up being perpetuated in scores of forwarded emails. The Hotmail hoax showed up most frequently in the top 10 hoax list.

Also, the recent legitimate news and email campaign urging users to create an In Case of Emergency (ICE) entry in their mobile phone address books has been parroted by a hoax message.

"The (ICE) hoax, however, tries to fool people into believing that following the advice opens them up to a possible mobile virus infection, which is complete poppycock," said Ms. Theriault.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.