Blaster threat extends to Cisco kit
The Blaster worm, which has caused untold misery for Windows PC users this week, is also capable of affecting the operation of networking equipment.
As was the case with the Code Red worm, Cisco products that ship with Microsoft technology need protection against the Blaster worm. In the case of the latest Microsoft-targeted malware, however, vulnerable products are probably less exposed because of differences in the ways the two worms spread. With Code Red there was definite denial of service risk, this time its easier to tuck products behind a firewall and minimise the risk.
According to a Cisco advisory issued yesterday, a number of networking appliance software products that come with Microsoft technology need patching with Cisco-supplied fixes because of the worm. These include Cisco CallManager, Cisco Building Broadband Service Manager (v5.1, v5.2 and HotSpot 1.0 only), Cisco Customer Response Application Server, Cisco Personal Assistant, Cisco Conference Connection, Cisco Emergency Responder.
