New computer worm spreads wider Bloomberg News Monday, May 3, 2004 A computer worm called Sasser is thought to have infected hundreds of thousands of computers through the Internet and was still spreading on Monday, computer security experts said. . The worm, which is different than a virus because it does not need to be attached to an e-mail to spread, causes a computer to shut down and reboot several times, apparently without causing any permanent damage, said Mikko Hyppoenen, director of virus research at F-Secure, an Internet security firm based in Helsinki. The worm was detected on Saturday at 4 a.m. Finnish time, he said. . Sasser exploits a flaw in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the Microsoft operating systems, Hyppoenen said. Increased network traffic generated by the worm, which is similar to the Blaster worm that spread last August, might slow other systems as well, Hyppoenen said. . "Sasser is spreading at an increasing pace," he said. "Still, the situation is not as bad as we feared during the weekend. People and companies have learned to protect themselves since Blaster." . Panda Anti-Virus Software estimated that 18 million machines, or 3 percent of the world's 600 million computers, had been infected, Agence France-Presse reported. . "We are experiencing disruption to certain of our computer systems," said Edward Naylor, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs Group in Hong Kong. "We are working to resolve the problem and minimize its impact." . More than 200 computers in Hong Kong have been afflicted by Sasser, and the number is increasing. The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center has received calls since Saturday from home computer users and businesses seeking help against the worm, a spokesman said. . The Panda estimate "looks a bit high," said the spokesman, Leung Siu-cheong. . "It's not as serious as the Blaster virus last year," Leung said in a telephone interview, "but we're taking it seriously because infections are set to rise." . Hackers use viruses to see what is stored on computers or to use the machines to send junk e-mails. Microsoft offered $5 million in rewards in November to help catch hackers, after attacks by viruses including Sobig and Blaster affected business and home computers. . Microsoft confirmed that Sasser was spreading and exploiting the security flaws in its software, a statement on its Web site said. Microsoft's Web site has tools to check if their computer is infected and links to sites with software to clean the computer. . Network Associates, which makes McAfee antivirus software, said the Sasser worm had not spread as much as Sobig and other computer infections. . "It has an increasing prevalence, but it's not as severe yet," said Lim Ai Ling, a Network Associates market manager based in Singapore. . Lim did not say how many customers had been infected, adding that Network Associates rated the Sasser worm "medium risk."
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