] The Witty worm: A new chapter in malware
]
] Opinion by Bruce Schneier, Counterpane Internet Security
] Inc.
]
] JUNE 02, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - If press coverage is any
] guide, then the Witty worm wasn't all that successful.
]
] But Witty was a big deal. It represented some
] scary malware firsts and is likely a harbinger of worms
] to come. IT professionals need to understand Witty and
] what it did.
]
] Witty was the first worm to target a particular set of
] security products -- in this case Internet Security
] System's BlackICE and RealSecure. It infected and
] destroyed only computers that had particular versions of
] this software running.
]
] Witty was wildly successful. Twelve thousand machines was
] the entire vulnerable and exposed population, and Witty
] infected them all -- worldwide -- in 45 minutes.