Sasser worm crashes college's computers

Technicians for Western Nevada Community College worked Tuesday to repair damage caused when a worm infested the computer system Monday.

Computer lab classes using Microsoft Windows were canceled on all three campuses - in Carson City, Fallon and Gardnerville - Monday following the infestation of the Sasser worm.

Spokesman Mike Greenan said classes resumed Tuesday.

"They're working on a priority list," he said. "Obviously, giving priority to anything that affects teaching."

Some office computers remained disabled.

Internet users across the globe are trying to protect their computers from several new worm threats referred to as Sasser, Agobot and Gaobot.

SBC Internet Services issued a warning to its customers urging them to protect themselves. Computers infested with worms such as Sasser may crash then reboot, experience slow browsing or the inability to connect to the Internet.

According to SBC, worms are computer programs that are capable of infecting one computer and then using that computer to infect other computers via the Internet or a network.

The cycle is repeated and the population of worm-infected computers grows rapidly. Worms differ from viruses because of their ability to continue growing under their own power and spread very quickly without assistance from another program.

Because the worm infects a computer when consumers log onto the Internet, they may have little or no warning before their computers are affected.

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.

Recommended security measures to avoid worm infections:

1. Use a personal software or hardware firewall to protect your computers from network worms and intruders.

2. Download and install all available critical patches for your Windows operating system from the Microsoft Web site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

3. Use up-to-date anti-virus software to detect and remove Gaobot and Sasser or other computer worms and viruses.

Users whose computers are infected with Sasser should follow the worm removal instructions at www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.asp or call (866) 727-2338.