New computer worm hits PCs

'Sasser' spreads via Internet to computers using Windows 2000 and XP.

The fast-spreading "Sasser" computer worm has infected hundreds of thousands of PCs globally and the number could rise sharply, a top computer security official said on Monday.

"If you take a normal Windows PC and connect to the Internet, you will be infected in 10 minutes (without protection)," Mikko Hypponen, research director at Finnish data security firm F-Secure said.

"It seems to be gradually getting worse, but it could jump as the US wakes up," he said.

In India, the worm has infected a large number of PCs, according to anti-virus software solutions providers.

Niraj Kaushik, country manager, Trend Micro India said: "Although it is too early to quantify the impact, going from past experience, the Sasser virus will have an impact on large enterprises. This is because Indian corporates still do not attribute priority to security-related issues."

F-Secure says the worm, which surfaced over the weekend, automatically spreads via the Internet to computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system, especially Windows 2000 and XP.

The spread of the virus has been muted so far, Hypponen said, as it emerged on a weekend, and with holidays closing offices in places like the United Kingdom and Japan on Monday. But the spread was expected to worsen as the work week hits its stride, Hypponen said, adding he believes the worm originated in Russia.

It was not immediately known what impact the worm was having on computer networks of US companies as they started the business day.

A Microsoft representative was not immediately available for comment, but said in a statement that customers could protect themselves by erecting personal firewalls that separate internal networks from public networks, and by downloading Microsoft security patches.

The company also said it was working with law enforcement officials, including the Northwest CyberCrime Taskforce, to analyse the worm and to identify those responsible for it.

Finnish bancassurer Sampo temporarily closed all of its 130 branch offices on Monday as a precaution. In Australia, Westpac Bank said it was hit by the worm, and branches had to use pen and paper to allow them to keep trading.

"With Sasser it seems that companies are (using software) patches better and more quickly than last year (with virus "Blaster"), but for those that are hit, they are hit hard," Hypponen said.

Blaster infected computers around the globe last year.