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A computer worm slamming corporate networks running Windows 2000
operating systems continued to make the rounds today after slowing
down numerous high profile organizations on Tuesday.
The Zotob.B virus, which surfaced earlier this month after Microsoft
warned of the security flaw, has already hit media outlets including
ABC, CNN, The Associated Press and The New York Times, among others, and has
now gone global.
While most security firms initially labeled the worm a low-risk threat
and had even predicted the Windows hole would be targeted by hackers
developing more effective variants on a worm, several firms are warning the
problem may be greater than anticipated.
According to the security outfit IMlogic Threat Center, the worms are now
using a chat channels to allow gain hackers access and control of an
infected machines.
“The rapid spread of these worms is illustrating the special problems
posed by threats that can leverage real time data channels like IM,” warned
IMlogic’s security experts.
Microsoft released a statement today saying their analysis revealed new
worms variants of the existing Zotob. However, The software maker continues
to rate the issue as a low threat for customers and will continue to review
the situation.
Redmond released a “critical” patch Aug. 9 for the vulnerability, which
is most severe on Windows 2000 systems. Those computers can be accessed
remotely through the operating system’s “Plug and Play” hardware detection
feature.
The bug takes advantage of a vulnerability in Microsoft’s plug-and-play
code found in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Server 2003.
This article was first published on internetnews.com, a JupiterWeb site.
To read the entire article, click here.
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