Automatic security updates

Far fewer computers would have been disabled by the latest Internet worm if their owners had configured them to automatically get the latest security fixes. Sasser's spread began to stabilize Tuesday, but not until infecting hundreds of thousands of computers since Friday by exploiting a known Windows flaw for which Microsoft issued a software patch three weeks ago. Twenty British Airways flights were delayed about 10 minutes Tuesday because of Sasser troubles at check-in desks, while British coast guard stations used pen and paper for charts normally generated by computer.

On Monday, the worm hit public hospitals in Hong Kong and one-third of Taiwan's post office branches. Major corporations around the world also were infected.

Home users were particularly hard hit, computer security experts say, because they generally lack the know-how to install patches and tend not to have the firewalls needed to keep Sasser from spreading to other computers via the Internet.

Read Full Story