'Code Red' virus fails to wreak havoc after much hype<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The much hyped computer virus, Code Red, failed
\nto wreak havoc on Internet systems in Indonesia and other
\ncountries on Wednesday, the day it was scheduled to attack for
\nthe second time this month.<\/p>\n
PT Agranet Multicitra Siberkom (Agrakom), which operates the
\npopular Detikcom online news portal, said it had not detected any
\nunusual activities with its Internet system.<\/p>\n
\"If anything should happen, it should happen this morning, but
\nso far nothing out of the ordinary has occurred,\" Agrakom's
\ninfrastructure coordinator Achmad Ulfi told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
However, he said that the company has always taken precautions
\nagainst the possibility of a computer virus attack by always
\ninstalling the latest anti-virus software on their system.<\/p>\n
The virus, categorized as a worm by computer experts,
\ninfiltrates a server and then fills the machine's memory with
\nmeaningless computer codes. Just before the server crashes, the
\nworm is passed on to other vulnerable computers.<\/p>\n
A virus generally ruins the system which it has infected,
\nwhile a worm doesn't. Instead, it disrupts the system's function,
\nsuch as by defacing websites and launching a data flood that
\ncould overwhelm servers, computer expert Zatni Arbi told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
The Code Red virus -- named after the cherry flavored caffeine
\nsoft drink popular with computer programmers -- only attacks
\nservers running on Microsoft's Internet server software such as
\nWindows NT and 2000, and the IIS Web server software.<\/p>\n
Microsoft has issued a patch for administrators to protect
\ntheir servers. More than one million copies of the patch have
\nbeen downloaded, the AFP newswire reported.<\/p>\n
Individual computers not running the server software are
\nimmune to the worm, including the vast majority of individual
\nhome and business users.<\/p>\n
\"Our server for Agrakom has already been protected with the
\nlatest software patch from Microsoft,\" he said, quickly adding
\nthat the company periodically updates its computer systems to
\nprevent virus threats.<\/p>\n
Scheduled to attack the Internet at midnight Greenwich Mean
\nTime (GMT) on Tuesday, the Code Red virus has also failed to
\ndisrupt Internet systems in the United States.<\/p>\n
\"Everything is looking normal,\" Dan Berkowitz, a spokesman for
\nKeynote Systems, was quoted as saying by the newswire. Keynote
\nSystems is an Internet performance monitoring company based in
\nSan Mateo, California.<\/p>\n
The first worm attack occurred on July 19, affecting more than
\n250,000 systems in just nine hours. The attack tried to overwhelm
\nthe White House website with data requests, but U.S. government
\nprogrammers thwarted the virus by moving the White House web
\npages to a new Internet address just in time.<\/p>\n
Though the worm did not strike immediately on Wednesday
\n(Tuesday, U.S. time), Berkowitz said the new worm attack could
\ncause problems in the next few days, as it works its way around
\nthe Internet.<\/p>\n
\"There could be a cumulative effect,\" he said. \"It's best to
\nstay cautious.\"(tnt)<\/p>",
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