| The Worm_Grew.A Virus Got Allot Of Attention | | | | working for about as long. The customer kept |
| The 3rd has come and gone. What has been the real | | | | changing the tapes, but they were blank. Just imagine |
| effect or impact of the "WORM_GREW.A (Also | | | | what would have happened if they had not had this |
| know as Nyxem, BlackMal, MyWife, and so on)" | | | | upgrade done, and an effective anti-virus and tape |
| virus? For weeks there has been tons of warnings, in | | | | backup solution put back in place. If they had |
| the news, print, e-zines, you name the forum and it | | | | contracted this virus it could have not only shut them |
| has been a discussion topic. Current information | | | | down for a period of time, it very well may have |
| indicates that the WORM_GREW.A virus has not | | | | cost them huge financial losses or worse. |
| caused mass destruction as promised or suspected. | | | | Virus Threat, Hype, or Somewhere in Between |
| I'm sure some of those 600,000 or so suspected | | | | Do I think this particular virus scare is a product of a |
| infected computers were impacted, but who really | | | | real threat, fueled by hype, or a dud? Quite frankly I |
| knows at this point. | | | | think it has been a little of all three. The threat was / |
| Viruses Can Impact You In Various Ways | | | | is definitely real, the hype was all over the media and |
| There is one thing I do know however; Even if the | | | | other information outlets, and as far as being a dud, |
| BlackMal virus has not done as much physical damage | | | | if you analyze it using the equation threat+hype= |
| as predicted, it has done a good deal of indirect | | | | impact, maybe. |
| damage. Think about how much time corporate | | | | I think what really has set this virus apart from |
| technical people have spent preparing for the | | | | recent malware / threats, is its destructive |
| possibilities, making sure their enterprise anti-virus | | | | capabilities. Many malware developers have moved |
| solution is functioning properly, the time devoted to | | | | away from creating destructive worms and viruses in |
| discussing and planning for disaster recovery in the | | | | favor of creating cash generating malware. There's |
| event a direct impact is realized. What about all the | | | | no money in it for them if they just blow up your |
| home and small business people stressed about the | | | | system. |
| doom looming over their computers head in the form | | | | Conclusion |
| of a "possible" destructive and wide spread infection. | | | | It's quite interesting, the parallel between how we |
| How Do You Know If Your Business Is Protected | | | | deal with threats and risks in our personal lives, and |
| Against Viruses | | | | that of the technology world. Many of us only |
| A business associate of mine recently worked on a | | | | prepare for a negative or damaging event shortly |
| project in which he performed a complete | | | | before the event takes place. That is if we have |
| infrastructure upgrade for a document / information | | | | been warned with time to prepare. The bottom line is |
| heavy business. During the upgrade, he found that | | | | we can never let our guard down. Consistency, |
| the anti-virus solution they were using was not | | | | persistence, awareness, and preparedness need to |
| functioning properly, had not updated its virus | | | | be in the forefront of our minds. |
| signatures for eight months, and on top of this, their | | | | You may reprint or publish this article free of charge |
| very expensive tape backup solution had not been | | | | as long as the bylines are included. |