MSBlaster Worm

The Windows DCOM/RPC Remote Exploitation worm in the press, MSBlaster, doesn't appear to be the RedBull worm I mentioned last week. It is very trivial and doesn't do any damage to the system besides forcing a reboot. There are a few other similar worms exploiting the hole as well, W32/Lovsan.worm and Exploit-DcomRpc. None of them can be categorized as being a 'super worm' or more destructive than any previously seen worm.

It wouldn't surprise me if these were just the first out of the gate and a few more that are even more destructive surface in the coming days. For instance theft of data on a massive scale. Or worse Distributed Denial of Service networks that attack government systems, web sites, ISPs, and internet routers.

In any case everyone needs to patch windows (if you can get to windowsupdate), update their anti-virus and firewall software. Need more info on that? See this entry.