NTA Monitor

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New version of network scanning tool arp-scan released

15th March 2011 A new version of a respected and popular network scanning tool has been released. Read More

Tests show rise in number of vulnerabilities affecting web applications with SQL Injection and XSS most common flaws

1st March 2011 SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) were the most common flaws found in web applications in 2010 according to results from tests carried out by NTA Monitor. Read More

Assess risk to manage effects of budget cuts

9th February 2011 Signs of economic recovery may be appearing in some industries, but for most organisations - particularly in the public sector - budget cuts and cost savings are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Read More

"Basic security threats not changed in 15 years"

1st February 2011 There may have been significant technological advances to the hardware and software organisations use, but according to Roy Hills, who co-founded NTA Monitor in 1996, the basic security threats have not changed in the last 15 years. Read More
Date: 30th February 2006
Risk: Informational

Finnish software company, F-Secure, recently stated on its blog: "ISPs: we urge you to check your user traffic patterns. Locate the users that produce an unlikely large amount of constant hits to people.freenet.de, scifi.pages.at, home.pages.at, free.pages.at and home.arcor.de. Contact these users and let them know they are likely to be infected with Sober and they should clean up their act."

Mikko Hyppönen, Director of Antivirus Research at F-Secure, said: "Most affected computers belong to home users, who have no idea they've been infected. ISPs are in the best position to distinguish infected users."

The Sober worm is an attachment-based piece of malware, with the malicious code hidden in an HTML email. It was programmed to download more malicious code on 6 January and the deadline passed without incident. As a result, the virus that had been by far the most prolific recently, has stopped spreading. However, F-Secure says there are still 'at least tens of thousands of infected machines out there'.

At the time of writing this article, websites for ISPs Telewest, BT, Wanadoo and Tiscali contained no specific advisory information about the Sober worm, although they did all contain some information about Internet security issues, if you looked hard enough!

References