Code Red: internet on red alert

In the aftermath of the Code Red outbreak, experts suggested that the hysteria surrounding the worm may have been at least partly responsible for its failure to bring the internet to its knees. Although some reports were labelled as scaremongering, they may have prompted administrators to harden their servers against attack and ultimately stemmed the spread of the worm. But now a second variant of Code Red has appeared, it remains to be seen if the large number of still unpatched servers out there will help the worm spread further yet.

Written by James Middleton

vnunet.com, 30 Jul 2001