NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Computer security experts are warning of the first self-propagating virus to target Microsoft Windows, a report said Tuesday.
Known by various names, including Blaster and Lovesan, the worm virus began infecting computers at homes and businesses Monday, and could clog the Internet with traffic and allow a malicious hacker to steal or corrupt data stored in an infected system, experts say.
The vulnerability, a buffer overrun in a Windows interface, was acknowledged by Microsoft in a security bulletin posted July 16, IDG News Service reported. Along with government and private security organizations, Microsoft has been urging customers to install a security patch to protect against attack, available at Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-026.
The flaw affects several versions of Windows, including Windows NT 4.0, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, making potential targets of millions of desktop and server computers. Experts have warned of the potential for serious disruption of the Internet, although it wasn't immediately clear how rapidly the worm was spreading.
