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New Internet worm targeting Windows

Tuesday, August 16, 2005; Posted: 10:01 a.m. EDT (14:01 GMT)

SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A new Internet virus targeting recently uncovered flaws in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system is circulating on the Internet, an anti-virus computer software maker said on Monday.

The ZOTOB virus appeared shortly after the world's largest software maker warned of three newly found "critical" security flaws in its software last week, including one that could allow attackers to take complete control of a computer.

Trend Micro Inc. said that the worm exploits security holes in Microsoft's Windows 95, 98, ME, NE, 2000 and XP platforms and can give computer attackers remote access to affected systems.

"Hundreds of infection reports were sighted in the United States and Germany," Tokyo-based Trend Micro said.

But computer security engineers at Microsoft said that the worm is only targeting Windows 2000 and not the other versions of Windows.

"It only affected Windows 2000," said Stephen Toulouse, a manager at Microsoft's Security Response Center. "So far its has shown a very limited impact -- we're not seeing any widespread impact to the Internet, but we remain vigilant."

The latest virus drops a copy of itself into the Windows system folder as BOTZOR.EXE and modifies the system's host file in the infected user's computer to prevent the user from getting online assistance from anti-virus Web sites, Trend Micro added.

The worm can also connect to a specific Internet relay chat server and give hackers remote control over affected systems, which can be used to infect other unpatched machines in a network and slow down network performance.

"Since most users may not be aware of this newly announced security hole so as to install the necessary patch during last weekend, we can foresee more infections from WORM tZOTOB," it said.

Last Tuesday, Microsoft issued patches to fix its security flaws as part of its monthly security bulletin. The problems affect the Windows operating system and Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser.

Microsoft has warned that an attacker could exploit a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer Web browser, lure users to malicious Web pages and could run a software code on the user's PC giving the attacker control of the affected computer.

Computer users should update their anti-virus pattern files and apply the latest Microsoft patches to protect their computer systems, Trend Micro said.

More than 90 percent of the world's PCs run on the Windows operating system and Microsoft has been working to improve the security and reliability of its software.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/interne...eut/index.html

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Information on Zotob


http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/zotob.mspx

Zotob is a worm that targets Windows 2000–based computers and takes advantage of a security issue that was addressed by Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039. This worm and its variants install malicious software, and then search for other computers to infect.

Important If you have installed the update released with Security Bulletin MS05-039, you are already protected from Zotob and its variants. If you are using any supported version of Windows other than Windows 2000, you are not at risk from Zotob and its variants. As part of our Software Security Incident Response Process, our investigation has determined that only a small number of customers have been affected, and Microsoft security professionals are working directly with them. We have seen no indication of widespread impact to the Internet. Customers who believe they have been attacked should contact their local FBI office or post their complaint on the Internet Fraud Complaint Center Web site. Customers outside of the United States should contact the national law enforcement agency in their country

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MJ

you are the greatest

your music will live on

Security Updates


http://www.microsoft.com/security/bu...s/default.mspx

__________________
MJ

you are the greatest

your music will live on

Microsoft in 'emergency response' as worm reported on three continents
Worm strikes down Windows 2000 systems
Microsoft in 'emergency response' as worm reported on three continents

Wednesday, August 17, 2005; Posted: 11:02 a.m. EDT (15:02 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A fast-moving computer worm Tuesday attacked computer systems using Microsoft operating systems, shutting down computers in the United States, Germany and Asia.

Among those hit were offices on Capitol Hill, which is in the midst of August recess, and media organizations, including CNN, ABC and The New York Times. Caterpillar Inc., in Peoria, Illinois, reportedly also had problems.

A small number of computers in an administrative office at San Francisco International Airport also crashed, but they were not essential to the airport's operation, spokesman Mike McCarron said.

The FBI said the computer problems did not appear to be part of any widespread attack.

While the worm affects primarily Windows 2000, it also can affect some early versions of Microsoft XP, said Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer of the Sans Institute, a network security firm based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Symptoms include the repeated shutdown and rebooting of a computer.

Microsoft has a downloadable patch on its security homepage, Microsoft.com/security.

The director of Microsoft's security response center, Debbie Fry Wilson, said the computer giant was in an "emergency response" mode. "Right now, we're mobilizing our two war rooms," she told CNN.

"The key thing I want to stress for customers is making sure that they install security updates as quickly as possible," Wilson said.

Although she said that the number of affected computers is unclear, most Windows 2000 customers are business users. And automatic security updates would have protected most home users, she said. Wilson added that "at least 200 million computer users worldwide" have downloaded the patch.

Business software provider AssetMetrix reported in June that Computers running Windows 2000 were on about half of all corporate desks.

Microsoft is working with law enforcement to track down those who unleashed the worm, Wilson said.

Lysa Myers, a virus researcher for the computer security firm McAfee, Inc., said the worm exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft's plug-and-play service. "How it's spreading is it's looking for machines that are unpatched and running itself," she said.

What was causing the damage was unclear, although experts pointed to a new worm called worm-rbot.cbq.

David Perry of Trend Micro, an Internet monitoring firm, said the latest worm may have been derived from the Zotob worm, which was first reported over the weekend.

Ullrich, of the Sans Institute, said Zotob "will connect to a control server to ask for instructions. It scans network neighborhoods and tries to infect them, as well."

Typically, the worm enters a system via a laptop connected to unsecured networks, Ullrich said. "This laptop will infect your systems from the inside."

Several versions of the worm have been released, some as late as Tuesday, he said.

Around 5 p.m. problems began at CNN facilities in New York and Atlanta before being cleared up about 90 minutes later.

The New York Times also was able to bring its systems back up, and "newspaper production will not be affected," spokeswoman Kathy Park said.

The White House said it did not have reports of computer problems.

Improved firewalls and faster patches may have limited the worm's spread, said Jeff Havrila, a technical analyst with the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a coalition of public and private groups that combats computer attacks.

He also said it is unclear how long the worm may take to run its course, noting that many people are away on summer vacation and may be affected only when they return.

At any given time there are thousands of computer worms and viruses in existence. Last year, the Sasser worm shut down millions of computers worldwide. A German teenager has been sentenced to 21 months' probation

__________________
MJ

you are the greatest

your music will live on

I hope this helps you guys out, tell every one, this is a recent worm.

__________________
MJ

you are the greatest

your music will live on