Worm Strikes Thousands of Computers

[Triguy]

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040503070809990007 http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

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[thebird]

As long as it's not one a them 'green' worms..

Sensation 5/15/2004

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise
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[MrPete]

I will need your screen name and password to see this article.

[Triguy]

Sorry, here it is in it's entirety.
HELSINKI (May 3) -- The fast-spreading ''Sasser'' computer worm has infected hundreds of thousands of PCs globally and the number could soon rise sharply, a top computer security official said on Monday.

''If you take a normal Windows PC and connect to the Internet, you will be infected in 10 minutes (without protection),'' Mikko Hypponen, Anti-Virus Research Director at Finnish data security firm F-Secure, told Reuters.


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''It seems to be gradually getting worse, but it could jump as the United States wakes up,'' he said.

F-Secure says the worm, which surfaced at the weekend, automatically spreads via the Internet to computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system, especially Windows 2000 and XP.

The spread of the virus had been muted so far, Hypponen said, as it emerged on a weekend, and holidays closed offices in places like the United Kingdom and Japan on Monday. But the spread was expected to worsen as the working week hits its stride.

''We have already seen three versions of Sasser during the weekend, and we could see more today,'' Hypponen said, adding he believes the worm originated in Russia.

Finnish bancassurer Sampo temporarily closed all of its branch offices, some 130 in all, on Monday as a precaution against Sasser.

In Australia, Westpac Bank said it was hit by the worm, and branches had to use pen and paper to allow them to keep trading, The Australian newspaper reported.

Delta Air Lines suffered a computer glitch on Saturday that caused delays and cancellations of certain flights across its system, but a spokesman said there was no information yet as to the cause.

''With Sasser it seems that companies are (using software) patches better and more quickly than last year (with virus ''Blaster''), but for those that are hit, they are hit hard,'' Hypponen said.

Blaster infected computers around the globe last year.


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The current worm does not need to be activated by double-clicking on an attachment, and can strike even if no one is using the PC at the time. When a machine is infected, error messages may appear and the computer may reboot repeatedly.

''Compared to what happened with Blaster ... last August ... this virus has all the same features,'' Hypponen said, noting that both worms exploited relatively new holes in Windows and frequently caused computers to reboot.

Microsoft said Blaster cost it ''millions of dollars of damages,'' and has issued a $250,000 bounty for information on the whereabouts of its author.

F-Secure said corporate networks should be protected against Sasser and its variants by firewalls -- Internet road blocks that separate internal from public networks.

F-Secure said the worm emerged 18 days after Microsoft posted a corrective-code software patch on its Web site. This continues a common pattern with viruses whereby firms announce flaws in their software and hackers race to exploit them.

For home computer users, people should make sure they have downloaded the patch from Microsoft to fix the breach. If their computer is infected, must first be downloaded before the virus is removed or else the PC could catch the worm again.

Hypponen said he was not sure there was a better way for firms to alert users to software problems.

''There are always going to be security holes in mainstream products,'' he said. ''Even if these are not made public, the bad boys will find out about them anyway.''

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[NancAngel]

Bird.. i dont think its one of your green worms... but it might be a neon one..




Oceanic 9/86
Fantasy 5/97
paradise 9/28/03
Carnival Valor 2/20/05
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2005;2;20;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500

[Little Red]

It sure got me this weekend and I've got Norton on my home computer. I've fixed it but it left my computer very, very slow. I'ts going in to be completely fixed tonight - thank God!! Hard to deal with a slow computer that takes 10 min. just to upload.

Petra

****Proud member of O.A.T.C. (OPENLY ADDICTED TO CRUISING!!)****

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Until I howl with the Royal Hounds


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Miracle - 2/13/05, Mariner of the Sea - 9/04 (Royal Hounds), Carnival Conquest - 1/04 (Conquestadors), Carnival Glory - 9/03 (Glory Hounds), Carnival Legend - 2/03, Carnival Victory - 11/00, Carnival Ecstasy - 11/99

[thebird]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by NancAngel:
Bird.. i dont think its one of your green worms... but it might be a neon one..

"WHEW" that's a relief...



Oceanic 9/86
Fantasy 5/97
paradise 9/28/03
Carnival Valor 2/20/05
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2005;2;20;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sensation 5/15/2004

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2005;10;30;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
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[ralmyers]

Microsoft has updates out for this -- that is if you are using a Microsoft OS.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS04-011.mspx

MCAfee, Norton/ Symantec, and CAI all have cleaner tools out of one type or the other. Worth checking into :-)

Triumph
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Fantasy - 94
Imagination - 95
Ecstasy - 99
Triumph - 04

[Barefootin']

It's been a frustrating 24 hours for me, but my computer is finally de-wormed. If only they could catch the culprits! http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

Dan
Inspiration 1999 Sept
Carnival Pride 2002 April
Carnival Conquest 2003 June
Fantasy 2003 July
Carnival Glory 2004 July