Yesterday, August 11, a worldwide worm, known as W32.Blaster.Worm or LovSan or MBlast, was launched which is causing unprotected computers on UVM campus who become infected with the worm to restart themselves, give error messages, and launch Denial of Service attacks on Microsoft's Windows Update site via a vulnerability in Microsoft operating systems.

MBlast only affects machines running Windows NT, 2000, or XP.

If your computer does not run Windows, you can skip the steps below. Nonetheless, all systems, including Macintosh, should have up-to-date virus protection; the most recent version of Symantec/Norton Antivirus can be downloaded from:

http://www.uvm.edu/software/

Apply the Microsoft Security patch

Install the patch for your operating system:

Windows 2000:
https://www.uvm.edu/cit/antivirus/Windows2000-KB823980-x86-ENU.exe

Windows XP Pro:
https://www.uvm.edu/cit/antivirus/WindowsXP-KB823980-x86-ENU.exe

Windows NT (unsupported):
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/5/1/651c3333-4892-431f-ae93-bf8718d29e1a/Q823980i.EXE

Information about the vulnerability which allows this worm to activate is located at:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp

Check your Virus Definitions date

Ensure that your Windows computer is protected against MBlast by opening Norton/Symantec Antivirus Client on your computer and verifying that