Sasser Virus
Source: Sky News
VIRUS HITS COASTGUARD
A new computer virus which is spreading around the world has hit the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The Sasser virus, which first appeared in Friday, has hit Coastguard stations across the UK and many are now relying on telephones and radios to continue working.
One million computer users worldwide are said to have been affected by the worm, which infects vulnerable PCs without any action by the user like opening attachments.
The Coastguard agency said its email and electronic mapping system had been disrupted but stressed there was no impact on operational duties.
Internet users have been urged to be on high alert to the virus which can strike without warning.
It tries to infect computers when users are surfing the net by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft software.
Microsoft raised the alarm about the flaw in its Windows 2000 and Windows XP software on April 13 and urged users to download a "patch" which prevents any attack.
The Sasser worm looks for computers without the patch and will download without the user being aware.
The first the individual or company knows is when an error message appears on the screen or the computer slows down.
Anyone who has the worm should go to the Microsoft website to download a programme to "clean" their system.
Microsoft has urged users to ensure they have the latest firewall and anti-virus protection and to set their computer to automatically download any patches it issues.
Analysts believe Sasser could be potentially as damaging as the blaster worm that spread worldwide last August, infecting an estimated eight million computers and costing businesses billions of pounds.
Link: What you should know about the Sasser worm and its variants - Microsoft
VIRUS HITS COASTGUARD
A new computer virus which is spreading around the world has hit the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The Sasser virus, which first appeared in Friday, has hit Coastguard stations across the UK and many are now relying on telephones and radios to continue working.
One million computer users worldwide are said to have been affected by the worm, which infects vulnerable PCs without any action by the user like opening attachments.
The Coastguard agency said its email and electronic mapping system had been disrupted but stressed there was no impact on operational duties.
Internet users have been urged to be on high alert to the virus which can strike without warning.
It tries to infect computers when users are surfing the net by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft software.
Microsoft raised the alarm about the flaw in its Windows 2000 and Windows XP software on April 13 and urged users to download a "patch" which prevents any attack.
The Sasser worm looks for computers without the patch and will download without the user being aware.
The first the individual or company knows is when an error message appears on the screen or the computer slows down.
Anyone who has the worm should go to the Microsoft website to download a programme to "clean" their system.
Microsoft has urged users to ensure they have the latest firewall and anti-virus protection and to set their computer to automatically download any patches it issues.
Analysts believe Sasser could be potentially as damaging as the blaster worm that spread worldwide last August, infecting an estimated eight million computers and costing businesses billions of pounds.
Link: What you should know about the Sasser worm and its variants - Microsoft
Comments
Funny thing is people havn't learnd to stop useing Outlook. If you own a major company that doesn't mean you can't afford a better email client or use a opensource one.
Umm... I've NEVER used Outlook, and there are growing numbers of ppl who use TB/KMail/etc.
Infact, alot of the Email viruses these days are user instigated (EG. You have to run it, as opposed to those [CS] script viruses).
-Q
Us router people are safe from worms
-Q
PS. That cheap CrapUSA router was the best 30 US$ expenditure ever!
the I scaned the harddrive and deleted all of the outlook files that it made.
so someone besides me uses thunderbird. cool.
ps: i like it.
Looks like they caught him.
Most of the viruses I get I remove manualy because most AVs see it but they can't get rid of it most of the time because they infect system files that can't be deleted. Also this shows how much Windows File Protect is worthless because most viruses go for that DLLCASHE folder.
-Q