--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
WEEKLY REVIEW
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies


Computer Bug Worms Way into the Web
Computer specialists have issued an urgent warning of a destructive computer virus, which dramatically slowed down worldwide Internet traffic for hours on Saturday.

The fast-spreading virus started to attack the global network at about 1:00 pm Beijing time on Saturday and damaged the Internet in Australia, the United States and Asia.

The virus, which was detected several hours after it struck the networks, caused a marked slowdown in e-mail and other online transmissions, according to China's virus supervision department.

Huang Chengqing, secretary-general of the Internet Society of China (ISC), said it took emergency measures, and got control by 9:30 pm on Saturday.

Known as the "worm virus," the malicious program took advantage of a previously identified weakness in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 software, shutting down the SQL database on the Web.

The virus is a small program that could quickly copy itself and send rapid data requests in search of other servers that manage computer networks.

The damage came from the way it overwhelmed networks by quickly cloning itself and spreading to other servers.

"The exact origin of the attack remains unknown," said Huang. "But what is for sure is that most of the Asian countries, especially South Korea, have been seriously affected."

South Korea, one of the world's most wired countries, appears to be the biggest victim of the virus.

South Korea issued an Internet security alert Sunday after the virus crippled all its online services.

According to South Korea's Information and Communication Ministry, the vicious virus broke down the country's broadband and mobile Internet services on Saturday. Only 10 percent of the nation's network remained operational.

Unlike other viruses, the worm did not infect individual desktop computers. Huang added: "The individual netizen may feel the slowness in surfing the Internet, but there will be no damage to personal computers."

Slow download speeds and the failure to access websites will have some negative impact on the Web-based services such as online shopping and banking.

Several major websites in Beijing experienced disruption on Saturday afternoon, but the situation returned more or less to normal Sunday.

Some netizens complained about the slow traffic and difficulty in accessing some popular foreign websites.

With most people not at work during the weekend, the virus seemed not to have much effect on people's daily work.

In the warning jointly released Sunday by the China Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre and ISC, Internet users and dealers have been urged to be on the alert for the further attack of the virus.

(China Daily January 27, 2003)


China Boasts 58 Million Internet Users
China-made Anti-Virus Software into Global Market
'Digital Virus' Attacks Rampant
China on Alert for 'Chinese Hacker' Virus
"Bin Laden" Virus Spreads in China
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688