* subscribe at http://techPolice.com FBI TEAMS UP WITH GOVERNMENT TO CRACK COMPUTER VIRUS Sam Greenhill and Dylan Dronfield, PA News Copyright 2001 The Press Association Limited The FBI today joined forces with the British government to help crack down on a new computer virus which could cause mayhem in systems across the world. The American secret service has warned that businesses have hours left before the Code Red worm virus could unleash havoc. The worm may be lying dormant in hundreds of systems across the country, waiting for the moment to strike, it has been warned. Its authors are believed to have set it to go off at 1am on Wednesday, when it will deface web sites and even force people's computers to phone up the White House Internet site and try to knock it offline. The virus can be stopped with an electronic vaccine - but scores of businesses have failed to inoculate their systems, despite a "patch" to do so being available free since the middle of June. PC expert Graham Cluley said: "A significant number of businesses are in for a nasty shock when they come in to work on Wednesday morning. "Whether through natural human laziness or complacency, many firms have still not protected themselves against this worm." Yesterday US government officials and computer experts met in Washington to warn of the spread of the worm. Code Red defaces a company's web site with the words "Hacked by Chinese" and launches attacks on the White House computer. Although it does not destroy data, it could be easily modified to do so, and two mutations have already been found. Mr Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus, based in Abingdon, Oxon, said: "It doesn't go round deleting files but the harm this worm does, apart from denying you access, is to your reputation. "Everyone who looks at your company's web site will know you don't take security very seriously." The worm exploits a flaw discovered in June in certain Microsoft systems used on Internet servers, and is found in Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems. Computers with Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me are not affected. The virus spends the first 20 days of a month quietly spreading itself around computers, lying dormant until the time comes to start the attack. Although the White House has taken action to dodge the virus, it will not stop computers launching their attacks, which could slow down the Internet and even make it crash in places. The Microsoft patch, which can be downloaded from its web site, has been available since June 18. But officials in the US have expressed frustration that many computers are still defenceless. Pamela Taylor, e-business expert at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "I don't think it's going to be another Love Bug, but obviously the risk does exist. "We know it's coming so it won't create the same sort of panic. Nonetheless, we would warn companies to make sure they have the patch installed to protect them from it, because it could deface their websites." The Love Bug virus, so dubbed because it spread itself by e-mail with the message "I love you", caused mayhem across the world in June 2000. The Home Office warned that the bug was highly virulent and could spread from computer to computer without even being passed by e-mail. The National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre, a Government body set up to tackle computer viruses, urged systems administrators to obtain a "patch" for the bug from Microsoft's website. More information is available on the centre's website at www.niscc.gov.uk. "We know it's coming so it won't create the same sort of panic. Nonetheless, we would warn companies to make sure they have the patch installed to protect them from it, because it could deface their websites." The Love Bug virus, so dubbed because it spread itself by email with the message "I love you", caused mayhem across the world in June 2000. The Home Office warned that the bug was highly virulent and could spread from computer to computer without even being passed by e-mail. Experts say that Code Red, unlike the Love Bug and Kournikova viruses, propagates itself by scanning the Internet, identifying vulnerable computers and installing itself. The National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre, a Government body set up to tackle computer viruses, urged systems administrators to obtain a "patch" for the bug from Microsoft's website. More information is available on the centre's website at www.niscc.gov.uk. ============================================================ Hot. Cool. And FREE. 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