Microcomputer Services

Blaster worm details

Blaster is a worm (a variant of a virus) that infects computers through a security flaw in Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Norton AntiVirus will detect Blaster if you have virus definitions from 8/11/03 or newer.

To repair a computer infected with Blaster, pick up a Windows Security CD from our Help Desk. This CD will remove Blaster and its varations, patch the security hole and update Norton AntiVirus.

Blaster aggressively attempts to infect other computers. To prevent this, Information Services has been disabling network jacks when an infected computer is detected. We have also been disabling dial-up (modem) access for home users whose computers are infected.

To re-enable your network jack or dial-up access, follow the steps above and then contact our Help Desk to request reactivation.

To learn more about the Blaster worm, read Symantec's description.