But phishing attacks soar

The number of emails carrying viruses has plummeted to fewer than one per cent of all messages sent, according to the April virus trends report from BlackSpider Technologies.

The total number of virus-laden emails fell by 56 per cent compared to March's figures, with infected mail now making up just 0.79 per cent of inbound emails.

The record low figure comes just four months after a record high in December 2005, when BlackSpider clocked the number of virus-infected messages at 3.93 per cent of all emails.

However, the study found that the number of phishing emails in April rose by 35 per cent compared with March's figures.

"Malware writers are giving with one hand but taking with the other," said James Kay, chief technology officer at BlackSpider.

"The drop in virus emails is encouraging, but a surge in phishing emails shows they are simply making their attacks more targeted."

The W32.Netsky.P virus retained its top spot for the most common malware encountered in April, with W32.Blackmal.E and W32.Beagle.DN in second and third spots.

Trojan-Spy.HTML.Bankfraud.ot and Trojan-Spy.HTML.Bankfraud.ok were the fourth and fifth most common viruses.