News

Microsoft virus disabled kiosks, PCs worldwide

August 12, 2003

NEW YORK -- Kiosks and computers powered by Microsoft have been hit hard by the latest Internet attack on Microsoft operating systems by rogue software.

Tens of thousands of computers worldwide were disabled yesterday, although a fix had been available for nearly a month, according to the Associated Press.

The viruslike worm, dubbed "LovSan" or "blaster," snarled corporate networks and frustrated home computer users with an inundation of data packets. It forced companies to close for the day and kicked Internet users offline as it spread, triggering Windows computers to shut down and restart, the report said.

Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration shut all its offices at noon.

"There's no telephone service right now. There's no online service right now. There's no kiosk or express office service," spokeswoman Cheron Wicker said in the report. "We are currently working on a fix."

Security experts said the world was lucky this time around because LovSan was comparatively mild and didn't destroy files. They worry that a subsequent attack exploiting the same flaw -- one of the most severe to afflict Windows -- could be much more damaging.

"We think we're going to be dealing with it for quite some time," Dan Ingevaldson, engineering manager at Internet Security Systems in Atlanta, said in the report.

On July 16, Microsoft posted on its Web site a free patch that prevents LovSan and similar infections. The underlying flaw affects nearly all versions of the software giant's flagship Windows operating system.

Non-Microsoft systems were not vulnerable, although some might have had trouble connecting with Web sites, e-mail and other servers that run on Windows.