Whereas TCP connections require a three-way “handshake,” UDP connections do not require such an acknowledgement. Therefore, the Slammer worm, which spread via UDP, could make connections as fast as the host servers could send out packets. Are you paranoid yet? If not, you should be. The SQL Slammer worm was yet another in a long string of wake-up calls indicating that many enterprises’ security practices are not up to snuff. For all its speed and collateral damage, Slammer was not the killer worm. But according to Michael Rasmussen, a security analyst at Giga Information Group, it could have been. It was “the first worm you could trace back to a potential loss of life, because the Slammer worm did take out some of the 911 call centers in the Pacific Northwest,” he told NewsFactor, noting that another worm like it “could lead to a very big impact and loss of life.” In fact, Slammer could come to be viewed as the harbinger of a new era of more vicious malware — especially if IT managers are not more careful in the future. Are enterprises ready for the new world of worms? Full Story
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