Only about 20 percent of trains were running, and many stations were closed temporarily, the newspaper said. Australia's Daily Telegraph reported that 300,000 train passengers were stranded for a while on Monday, while technicians dealt with a worm infestation that shut down the railway's radio network. 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, according to Australian newspaper reports. The worm's impact early this week was global. It wasn't enough to slow down Web page browsers, said Kirsten Husak, consulting manager with Keynote, but it might interfere with streaming video or voice over IP traffic. Keynote Systems Inc., which monitors Internet performance, said there was a noticeable downgrade in performance of Internet routers on Tuesday. Some indicators show the virus actually impacting the overall performance of the Internet as well. It's just a matter of of time," said Sharon Ruckman, Senior Director of Security Response at Symantec Corp. "If you haven't patched, it's going to find you. Still, millions of consumers have yet to download the patch, antivirus firms said - and without it, their computers likely aren't protected from the worm, and will almost certainly become infected.
#Win worm virus Patch#
The software patch needed to protect Windows-based computers from the worm is being downloaded at a furious pace - 200 million times since its release last month, Toulouse said. It now estimates a total of 250,000 computers were infected worldwide - about 80 percent of them home users. The worm seems to have reached its peak Tuesday, and by Wednesday, infections were down 50 percent, the company said.
Meanwhile, infections from Sasser are rapidly declining, according to antivirus firm Network Associates Inc.
#Win worm virus code#
Computer code within the newest Netsky variant suggests the authors also claim responsibility for Sasser, according to published reports.
They also declined to discuss the possibility that the worm was written by the same programmer or group that authored the various Netsky viruses which have been infecting computers for months. Neither Toulouse nor Fowler would speculate on suspects, or when any arrests might be made. Secret Service, and Seattle are enforcement. "We are pursuing a number of good leads," said Greg Fowler, a spokesman for the Northwest Cyber Crime Task Force, made up of agents from the FBI, U.S.