Slashdot is reporting news that CNN and a number of other media sites are getting owned through a pnp security hole for which a patch was released a few days ago. So not only do these companies have an incompetent IT staff that has no patch management system in place but they also lack adequate antivirus protection (or perhaps they have it but haven’t implemented it properly). I am not sure which is more embarassing. Have you learned nothing from SQL Slammer? Patching is important. If I was the CIO of any of those companies I’d be knee deep into monster.com resumes right about now.
The Zotob MS05-039 worm mentioned on Slashdot last Sunday may be the most recent virus that has gone global, hitting Windows 2000 desktops at CNN, ABC, the New York Times, and many others. The virus is spreading around the world rapidly as compromised systems become bots and propagate the worm, with reported outbreaks in Germany and China. InformationWeek has a decent article titled Zotob Proves Patching “Window” Non-Existent. Microsoft calls it a “low impact” threat and tells you What you should know about Zotob. Symantec has W32.Zotob.D removal instructions. Trend Micro thinks that this is a new, different worm altogether and says it is one of the fastest-spreading infections in history.
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