The National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center -- China's version of the U.S.-based CERT -- had detected 1.3 million instances of the Sasser worm within in China as of early Thursday morning. The worry is that when workers return Saturday, they'll find their systems infected.
In the West, Finnish news reports said that the Sampo Bank shuttered all 130 branches on Monday morning, with most closed for several hours because of Sasser-related problems.
Other affected organizations in Europe included the Brussels headquarters of the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, where some offices struggled Monday with the worm. In France, the French Stock Exchange was hit, and in the U.K., networks running at the nation's Maritime and Coastguard Agency were disrupted.
And this week's trials and tribulations aren't the end of Sasser, say security analysts. Even if another variant doesn't appear -- unlikely, what with hackers habitually releasing worms late on Fridays and on weekends -- Sasser will remain part of the malicious code back chatter.
"Sasser will be with us for a long time to come," said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering with Symantec's response team this week.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
