Sasser: The Last Big Network Worm?
Debby Fry Wilson has more than a few reasons and sleepless nights to remember Sasser, the last major network worm to clog Windows systems around the world. t was on her birthday, a year ago this month, when the first Sasser reports started filtering in and, for Wilson and her colleagues at the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center), the outbreak presented an opportunity to test a new emergency-response system that had just been implemented by Microsoft.
Coming off a string of intense worm activity in 2003, when the SQL Slammer and Blaster worms hogged the headlines and caused damage worldwide, Microsoft was better prepared for Sasser, which was squirming through a Windows hole that had been already been patched.
"We did know that this particular vulnerability had the potential to be exploited into a worm," said Wilson. "We had already done a few things to draw attention to the bulletin and get customers to prioritize and apply the patches."
