If you were wondering why this site has been flaky latey (and I was wondering why I couldn’t get cash out the ATM yesterday):
Internet Attack Exposes Security Flaws (requires v quick free signup)
some sample text:
…U: JOHO has some cool info about it too…
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:42 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) – This weekend’s Internet attack has security experts worried that too many system managers are only fixing problems as they occur, rather than keeping their defenses up to date.
The worm that crippled tens of thousands of computers worldwide, congested the network for countless others and even disabled Bank of America cash machines took advantage of a vulnerability in some Microsoft Corp. software that had been discovered in July.
Microsoft had made software updates available to patch the vulnerability in its SQL Server 2000 software – used mostly by businesses and governments – but many system administrators had yet to install them when the attack hit Saturday.
There was a lot that could have been done between July and now,'' said Howard A. Schmidt, President Bush's No. 2 cybersecurity adviser.We make sure we have air in our tires and brakes get checked. We also need to make sure we keep computers up-to-date.’’
Network technicians worked Sunday to complete repairs to damage caused by Saturday’s fast-spreading worm. The problem was declared largely under control Sunday, though some experts were worrying about the possibility of lingering infections appearing Monday.
The FBI said Sunday that the attack’s origin was still unknown.
As the worm infected one computer, it was programmed to seek other victims by sending out thousands of probes a second, saturating many Internet data pipelines.
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