Windows users beware – a new worm has struck the campus area.
Anyone running Windows XP, NT or 2000 is susceptible to the W32 Blaster Worm, which attacks a vulnerable part of these programs and infiltrates computers without owner’s knowledge.
This worm gives a message that “System Shutdown initiated” and a restart is imminent because the Remote Procedure Call service terminated unexpectedly, according to the OIT Web site.
The infected computer will then continue to shut down and turn back on continually.
A patch is available through Ohio State’s Office of Information Technology website to prevent or kill this worm.
The patch can be downloaded at support.microsoft.com/?bid=823980. If the computer doesn’t stay on long enough to download the patch, it can be burnt on a CD or a floppy disk.
After the patch is in place, download and run the removal tool at securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.blaster.worm.removal.tool.html. This will scan the computer for the worm, according to OIT.
