Reports are coming in of a new 'worm' that is wreaking havoc around the world.  In just 4 days, over 6.5 million machines have been infected, bringing the total to over 9 million machines.  Worse still, industry commentators estimate that one in three machines is vulnerable to this demon.  Here in NZ, it's taken the Ministry of Health 15 days relentless work to get free of the scourge.  They report that it came in from a USB stick, using the auto-run feature.  They had to take whole sections of their network offline from the internet, and clean PCs out one after the other.

So, what do you need to do to keep safe.  Simple really. Just make sure your PCs are up to date with the latest security patches.   Use WindowsUpdate to keep your PC up to date. Computers that we see a lot should be ok, but it never hurts to check.  For clients who us more occasionally, we urge you to check this, or get in touch with us for help. 

Security is a never ending battle.  The virus writers are constantly exploring new ways to vandalise your computers.  We work hard to stay abreast of the issues and to make sure that our clients are kept safe.  Our KARE contracts give you the peace of mind that your systems are proactively managed to avoid these nightmares.

Update : 21 Jan 2009: While the worm is still spearding, it appears that it hasn't had the impact that it might have been designed for - refer NZ Herald