Seems like extensive press coverage of Code Red would boost stocks like NETA:
sei.cmu.edu
Code Red' Slams Thousands Of Sites
Bug Targets Web Servers
WASHINGTON, 4:33 p.m. EDT August 1, 2001 -- The "Code Red"
computer worm had infected about 80,000 Web sites as of 2:30 p.m.
ET -- prompting warnings that it could worm its way into a quarter of a
million of them within a day.
But there are also some encouraging signs. The
infection rates are slowing down with every
passing hour. And that's causing officials to be
more optimistic that they spread the word on
time, and that the final numbers won't be quite so
high. They've been calling on Web site operators
to install a software patch available from
Microsoft. When the worm -- which is like a virus
-- struck last month, it had only a day to spread
itself, before it turned to its next task of
targeting the White House Web site. This time,
it's expected to spend 20 days trying to spread.
There are fears that there could be a slowdown
across the Internet by the end of the day. But
officials are still hopeful that enough computers
have been inoculated to prevent major
interruptions. The head of research at a computer
security think-tank says the rate of infection
seems to be about what it was when the "worm"
first appeared last month. The worm, which is like
a virus, first appeared on July 19. It had just a
day to spread, before it went into attack mode
against the White House Web site. This time, it
has had the first 20 days of the month to spread.
The FBI says it's been spotted worldwide. It
doesn't target home computers -- just Web site
operators. But that can lead to slowdowns for all
Internet users. Early indications had been that
the worm hadn't turned into the Internet menace
it was feared to be. Then around 10 a.m. ET, CNN
reported that the FBI issued a warning that the
worm was starting to slow Internet traffic in
limited instances. The virus-busting CERT
Coordination Center reported at 8:30 a.m. ET that
the worm had gone active, as per predictions.
CERT "has seen evidence of exploitation and
scanning, and our staff members are currently
analyzing this activity. Early reports of activity
spanning the entire globe, including the United
States, indicate that the worm is presently
spreading throughout the Internet," the center
stated on its Web site. "As was the case in July
with its early progression, the worm's potential is
still unknown at this time." For updates from
CERT, click here After the warnings, many site
operators installed a software patch to ward off
the worm that was expected to re-emerge last
night. However, by early this morning there were
no indications that the worm was having any
major effect on the operation of the Internet.
Code Red infected several hundred thousand
computers during its first outbreak July 19. |
