From the Dark Side--Sasser Worm Variants Infect Networks and Affect Macs Indirectly

A new worm is making the rounds and clogging networks thanks to the Microsoft Windows operating system monopoly and to people who do not stay current in patching their Wintel and WinAMD computers. The latest worm, of which there are at least four variants, uses a vulnerability in Windows XP and Windows 2000 systems. The worms connect remotely from a host computer to the targeted computer, install an FTP server and download themselves to the new host computer. This is repeated over and over again among unpatched computers degrading the performance of networks. Mac users are only affected by the degraded performance of infested networks they may be using. Symantec has rated the Sasser Worm a 4 out of 5.