Computer Worm Hits Windows 2000 Systems

Tuesday wasn't exactly a great day for many top notch companies using Microsoft Windows based Operating Systems. A computer worm reached many of these systems and shut them down. Many of these companies were on a short recess, or a small vacation might I add when this worm hit. While these were the only big companies that got hit, there were some smaller companies, including airports, etc that got hit as well too. San Fransisco International Airport reported they got a small version of the worm, but this wasn't big enough to stop air travel, so they continued to move on with there business and just contain the worm as best as they could.

This computer worm is a little different than most worms, although it does destroy some components of the computer, it's main focus is shutting off the computer, than booting it back on. This might sound weird but it's true. This bug mainly hacked the Windows 2000 Operating System, with some rare cases that it affected Windows XP Systems. Many companies are recovering from this attack, while Microsoft included a patch down-loadable on there website that would remove the worm completely.

Many of these companies are usually on top of these things, but when you take a small recess and the computers are left alone, any Security Updates that aren't downloaded and installed can cause holes in the code, which allow viruses and hackers to access. All of these companies will be stressing there security updates daily, to make sure this never happens again. While it is almost impossible to keep every virus and worm out, they need to try and contain as much of this as possible, so the main reason Security Updates are issued are basically to keep any known worms from accessing your computer system or network.

Microsoft and Law Enforcers are still uncertain to who started this worm infection, but they are getting ever so close to the end. Obviously it was a hacker of some sort, and he is probably knowledgeable in this field, so tracking him down might not be so easy. A researcher from McAfee said the worm exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft's Plug-and-Play Service, and it is looking for other systems with the same un-patched problem. While this worm stood clear of any major damage, there was still minor damage, and they figured out what caused the "damage" part of it. A worm named rbot.cbq. Researchers think this could have been a connection to the Zotob worm recently detected last weekend.

Although this worm is not the biggest infection ever to break loose, it is still something to look out for, and while it only infected big companies, look out for the worm on your home PC as well too. McAfee and Norton should have sent out warnings and updates on this worm, so make sure your Anti-Virus Software is on and running.