Nimble Nimda – IT security risk grows

“Nimda”, the latest virus to spread fear amongst computer users worldwide, is the most sophisticated rogue program to have struck so far, say security experts. It is a mass-emailing worm which attacks 16 known vulnerablities in Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services) web servers. McAfee, the anti-virus experts, said that the worm, which may cause the internet to slow down and crash email servers and web sites, self-replicates to maximise its infection rate. It does not destroy data files and many users may be unaware of its presence. Instead it is new type of program denoted a “proof of concept” virus which effectively points the way to other users who wish to write rapid dissemination code and displays the skill of its originator(s). More powerful than the Code Red worm, which came to light in July, it is thought to have infected some 2.2 million computers in 24 hours. In addition to the usual email transmission – most of the infected messages carried an attached file called readme.exe – a new major concern for IT risk managers lies in the program’s ability to enter a user’s system when he merely visits a web page on which it resides. It seems that even simple net surfing is no longer safe.