T
Tech Zero
From TheStar.com: http://tinyurl.com/2yf3w
LONDON—The rapidly evolving Sasser worm tore across the Internet
yesterday to claim new victims, particularly among home computer users.
First detected over the weekend, the worm has already infected, by some
estimates, more than 1 million personal computers running on Microsoft
Windows 2000, NT and XP operating systems. Four variants have emerged.
Among its victims are banks, travel-booking systems, European
Commission offices and Britain's 19 coast guard stations.
"We've had to go back to plotting on paper charts rather than using the
computer mapping system," a spokesperson for Britain's Maritime and
Coastguard Agency said.
Unlike most previous Internet outbreaks, Sasser infects vulnerable PCs
without any action by the user like opening attachments, allowing it to
spread quickly. Computer worms tend to spread faster than the typical
e-mail-borne virus since they are usually programmed to continuously
scan the Internet's global network to hunt for PCs to infect.
Experts said while corporate network technicians had by and large moved
to block its further spread yesterday, infection among home users was
spreading.
"Among corporate computer users, the impact has dropped off because
network administrators have taken time to put patches in place," said
Joe Hartmann, director of the virus research group for Trend Micro Inc.
in Cupertino, Calif.
"That's not true for many home computer users, where this virus can
spread exponentially," Hartmann said. "I don't think this virus has
reached its full potential yet."
"It will be a big problem for a day or two, and then it will linger on
the Internet for weeks, and likely years," said Mikko Hypponen of
Finnish data security firm F-Secure Corp.
LONDON—The rapidly evolving Sasser worm tore across the Internet
yesterday to claim new victims, particularly among home computer users.
First detected over the weekend, the worm has already infected, by some
estimates, more than 1 million personal computers running on Microsoft
Windows 2000, NT and XP operating systems. Four variants have emerged.
Among its victims are banks, travel-booking systems, European
Commission offices and Britain's 19 coast guard stations.
"We've had to go back to plotting on paper charts rather than using the
computer mapping system," a spokesperson for Britain's Maritime and
Coastguard Agency said.
Unlike most previous Internet outbreaks, Sasser infects vulnerable PCs
without any action by the user like opening attachments, allowing it to
spread quickly. Computer worms tend to spread faster than the typical
e-mail-borne virus since they are usually programmed to continuously
scan the Internet's global network to hunt for PCs to infect.
Experts said while corporate network technicians had by and large moved
to block its further spread yesterday, infection among home users was
spreading.
"Among corporate computer users, the impact has dropped off because
network administrators have taken time to put patches in place," said
Joe Hartmann, director of the virus research group for Trend Micro Inc.
in Cupertino, Calif.
"That's not true for many home computer users, where this virus can
spread exponentially," Hartmann said. "I don't think this virus has
reached its full potential yet."
"It will be a big problem for a day or two, and then it will linger on
the Internet for weeks, and likely years," said Mikko Hypponen of
Finnish data security firm F-Secure Corp.