Thank God for Apple Macintosh Computers....Amen!!!

New York Times
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August 12, 2003

Fast Spreading Worm Attacks Microsoft Windows
By KIRK SEMPLE

malicious computer program aimed at the Microsoft Windows operating system
was rapidly spreading around the world via the Internet today, infecting
tens of thousands of home computers and corporate networks alike, even
though the possibility of such an attack had been widely anticipated by
computer security experts.

Known by a variety of names, including "W32.Blaster," "MSBlast" and
"W32/Lovsan," the program, called a worm, first appeared on Monday and takes
advantage of a vulnerability in a common component of Windows to invade a
computer's hard drive, where it can impede operations and launch itself at
other computers.

On July 16, Microsoft disclosed the vulnerability and offered a patch
program on its Web site to protect vulnerable computers. On July 31, the
Department of Homeland Security followed up with its own warning about the
worm's potential for harm.

"We've been spending a lot of time trying to help customers" protect their
computers, Stephen Toulouse, security program manager for the Microsoft's
Security Response Center in Redmond, Wash., said.

But experts said many users neglected to download and install Microsoft's
protective program and were thus susceptible to the current attack by the
so-called Blaster worm.

"It's everywhere," said Marty Lindner, a computer security expert at the
CERT Coordination Center, a computer security response team operated by
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "It's fairly well widespread. Lots
of broadband customer and home users are experiencing pain and suffering.

Security experts said that individuals and corporations in the Americas,
Europe, Asia, and Africa had been affected. The Associated Press quoted a
government spokesman in Germany as saying the virus was "highly spread"
there. In Atlanta, the Federal Reserve Bank there had to shut down much of
its system, Agence France-Presse reported. The Maryland Motor Vehicle
Administration said it had been forced to close offices throughout the state
at noon.

Several computer security experts said that because of the method of
infection, this particular worm's effects were hard to quantify.

"No one person can measure all the people involved," said Mr. Lindner of the
CERT Coordination Center. "The number is large."

But Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager at Symantec Security Response, a
division of the Symantec Corporation, an Internet security company, said at
least 166,000 computers worldwide had been affected.

Some computer experts regard the July 2001 attack of the Code Red virus as
the widest blitz in history by a malicious code. It affected about 300,000
computers worldwide, programming them to launch a simultaneous attack
against the White House's Web site, which officials were able to defend.

Asked if Blaster could reach Code Red proportions, Mr. Friedrichs said,
"That's certainly a possibility," adding, "But we haven't seen a number that
large yet."

The vast majority of the world's computers are equipped with some form of
Windows software, and computer experts said the worm specifically focuses on
the latest versions of Microsoft software