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W32.Blaster Worm!!! Look out!

Mandylion

Omnipotence personified
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15 Mar 2003
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From today's New York Times

Fast Spreading Worm Attacks Microsoft Windows (Published 2003)

" A malicious computer program aimed at the Microsoft Windows operating system was rapidly spreading around the world via the Internet today, infecting tens of thousands of home computers and corporate networks alike, even though the possibility of such an attack had been widely anticipated by computer security experts.

Known by a variety of names, including "W32.Blaster," "MSBlast" and "W32/Lovsan," the program, called a worm, first appeared on Monday and takes advantage of a vulnerability in a common component of Windows to invade a computer's hard drive, where it can impede operations and launch itself at other computers.

On July 16, Microsoft disclosed the vulnerability and offered a patch program on its Web site to protect vulnerable computers. On July 31, the Department of Homeland Security followed up with its own warning about the worm's potential for harm.

But experts said many users neglected to download and install Microsoft's protective program and were thus susceptible to the current attack by the so-called Blaster worm.

"It's everywhere," said Marty Lindner, a computer security expert at the CERT Coordination Center, a computer security response team operated by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "It's fairly well widespread. Lots of broadband customer and home users are experiencing pain and suffering.

Security experts said that individuals and corporations in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa had been affected. The Associated Press quoted a government spokesman in Germany as saying the virus was "highly spread" there. In Atlanta, the Federal Reserve Bank there had to shut down much of its system, Agence France-Presse reported. The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration said it had been forced to close offices throughout the state at noon."


Let's happy happy download patches! Your computer might have automatically downloaded the patch, but please, please check and/or download it again.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-026.asp
 
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