Darryl Coombs writes:
>More fear mongering from the media.
In this case, a certain amount of fear is worth mongering:
>The solution is simple, patch the
>servers.
Unfortunately, it takes PEOPLE to do this, and many of those people will
not know or understand what means "patch the server". Many won't even get
the word, because they live in the real world, not on the Internet.
Moreover, this worm is quite capable of eating large chunks of Internet
bandwidth just from its *attempts* to spread. If that long-forgotten NT
server under the desk in the orthodontist's office downstairs is
connected to a DSL line, a whole bunch of DSL customers are going to be
affected no matter what OS they run.
Yesterday, I went over to the school for which I'm the technology advisor
in order to install the patch. (I'd been planning to switch out their NT
box for OSX but won't have the time for another few weeks.) When I told
them what I was about to do, their "tech" person didn't even know there
was a problem, despite front-page coverage of this problem in our local
bird cage-liner. He doesn't know or care that he's running NT; he just
makes sure that teachers and students can get to their email and their
files.
So generating some panic is warranted just to make sure that people who
read _People_ and not just _Dr. Dobbs_ have some chance of learning that
they (a) might have a server, and (b) need to patch it, or get someone to
do it for them.
-- Bruce
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