The Hindu News Update Service News Update Service Friday, January 23, 2009 : 1620 Hrs
Sci. & Tech. Millions of computers hit by digital virus New York (PTI): More than nine million computers around the world have been infected by a digital virus in what experts believe is a multi-staged attack. The world leading security experts paint a scary scenario, stressing that they are yet to identify who programmed it and what the next stage will be. Known as Conficker or Downadup, it is spread by a recently discovered Microsoft Windows vulnerability, by guessing network passwords and by hand-carried consumer gadgets like USB keys, the New York Times said on Friday. Experts were quoted as saying that it is the worst infection since the Slammer worm exploded through the Internet in January 2003, and it may have infected as many as nine million personal and business computers around the world. Worms like Conficker not only ricochet around the Internet at lightning speed, they harness infected computers into unified systems called botnets, which can then accept programming instructions from their clandestine masters. "If you're looking for a digital Pearl Harbour, we now have the Japanese ships steaming toward us on the horizon," Rick Wesson, chief executive of Support Intelligence, a computer security consulting firm based in San Francisco, was quoted as saying by the paper. The experts were quoted as saying that many computer users may not notice that their machines have been infected. But they might be waiting for the instructions to materialise, to determine what impact the botnet will have on PC users. It might operate in the background, using the infected computer to send spam or infect other computers, or it might steal the PC user's personal information. Microsoft, the Times said, rushed an emergency patch to defend the Windows operating systems against this vulnerability in October, yet the worm has continued to spread even as the level of warnings has grown in recent weeks. Earlier this week, security researchers at Qualys, a Silicon Valley security firm, estimated that about 30 per cent of Windows-based computers attached to the Internet remain vulnerable to infection because they have not been updated with the patch, despite the fact that it was made available in October. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
