Variants of the Netsky worm topped the virus chart in March, according to a report released Wednesday by antivirus vendor Sophos.
Reports of Netsky accounted for nearly 60 percent of all reports to Sophos. The Bagle worm and its variants also dominated the company's top 10 chart, accounting for about 10 percent of malware reports in March.
"The authors of the Netsky and Bagle worms have been battling for virus writing supremacy in March, with both releasing new variants in a tit-for-tat game of one-upmanship," Carole Theriault, a company consultant, said in a prepared statement.
The worm writers have encoded messages in the multiple variants, attacking or goading the other into releasing more powerful versions.
