Mark Your Calendars

Sober Worm Attack Set for January 6

Computer users and system administrators, take note. According to iDefense, a division of VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN - news), on January 6, 2006, the world will see the release of a new version of the Sober worm. Security analysts hope that, at least in this instance, being forewarned can lead to being forearmed, and that computer users will take the time before the attack to update their security software.

Durham said this so-called "hactivism" came to light over a period time because the worm's authors would promote their code and spread it on historical dates of significance. For instance, November 22, the date of the most recent Sober release, was also the day Germany's first female chancellor was inaugurated. January 6 marks the 87th anniversary of the founding of the Nazi Party in Germany.

"It's not a question of someone crying wolf," said Theriault. "It's just that there are so many wolves, there is a lot of crying going on. It's just one more thing in a never-ending stream of security problems for Windows."