IP: Officials Fight 'Code Red' Attack

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>Would be easier and better to have fought the problem when the software 
>was designed. It is hard to retrofit security into existing systems.


Dave

ps published in full due to severity of the problem

>Officials Fight 'Code Red' Attack
>
>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
>
>
>Filed at 4:53 p.m. ET
>
>WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an unprecedented show of force against an
>extremely virulent Internet attack, government and private
>officials on Monday will implore worldwide organizations to protect
>themselves from the ``Code Red'' worm.
>
>Representatives from the White House, FBI, Microsoft (news/quote)
>and others have decided to take the step in the face of one of the
>largest ever dangers to the Internet. The worm, similar to a virus,
>could cause widespread slowdowns and sporadic outages.
>
>``The Internet has become indispensible to our national security
>and economic well-being,'' said Ron Dick, head of the National
>Infrastructure Protection Center, an arm of the FBI. ``Worms like
>Code Red pose a distinct threat to the Internet.''
>
>Along with posting various warnings on their Web sites, government
>officials and representatives from Microsoft were holding a news
>conference Monday afternoon to publicize their efforts.
>
>The government routinely works with private companies to issue
>warnings about new hack attacks and viruses, but never before have
>they made such a high-profile stand.
>
>While the actual infection rate is unknown, it is believed to be in
>the hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers. In just
>the first nine hours of its July 19 outbreak, it infected more than
>250,000 systems.
>
>The officials are frustrated that even though a software
>inoculation was made available over a month before the worm's first
>attack, many computers are still defenseless. The patch, which will
>protect computers, can be found on Microsoft's Web site.
>
>The worm defaces Web sites with the words ``Hacked by Chinese.''
>While it doesn't destroy data, it could be modified to do so. At
>least two mutations have already been found.
>
>Code Red exploits a flaw discovered in June in Microsoft's Internet
>Information Services software used on Internet servers. It is found
>in Windows' NT and 2000 operating systems.
>
>Only computers set to use the English language will have their Web
>pages defaced. From the first through the 19th of every month, the
>worm spreads. From the 20th on, it attacks the White House Web
>site, trying to knock it offline.
>
>The White House took precautions against it, changing its numerical
>Internet address to dodge the attack.
>
>Even though the target has moved, the infected computers will still
>launch their attack. This, officials said, could slow down the
>Internet causing sporadic but widespread outages.
>
>Last week, the Pentagon was forced to shut down public access to
>all of its Web sites temporarily to purge and protect them from the
>Code Red worm.
>
>Because Code Red spread so quickly, security companies have not
>been able to figure out who wrote and released it.
>
>Code Red also can damage smaller networks by affecting a certain
>type of Internet routers, made by Cisco Systems (news/quote), used
>for data traffic control.
>
>Steve Lipner, head of Microsoft's security response center, said
>the company is looking for new ways to distributing patches more
>efficiently.
>
>The government relies on Microsoft and other technology companies
>to secure everything from defense networks to financial systems.
>
>``The protection of the Internet requires a partnership with the
>government, private companies and the public as a whole,'' NIPC's
>Dick said.
>
>^------
>
>On the Net:
>
>National Infrastructure Protection Center:
>http://www.nipc.gov
>
>Microsoft Security Patch:
>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-033.asp
>
>Code Red technical data: http://www.digitalisland.net/coderedalert
>
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Code-Red-Worm.html?ex=997466980&ei=1&en=445f11edd0b5530f
>
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