Zotob (computer Worm) - Sequence of Events

Sequence of Events

  • August 9, 2005: Security advisory
    "On August 9th, Microsoft released critical security advisory MS05-039 which revealed a vulnerability in the Plug-and-Play component of Windows 2000. Code to patch the loophole was also made available."
  • Virus writing
    "In the days since Microsoft's announcement, virus writers have released several variants of both Zotob and RBot, along with updated versions of older worms named SD-Bot and IRC-Bot, designed to take advantage of the newly discovered flaw."
  • August 13, 2005: Emerged on Saturday
    "The worms, called Zotob and Rbot, and variants of them, started emerging Saturday, computer security specialists said, and continued to propagate as corporate networks came to life at the beginning of the week."
  • August 16, 2005: Took down CNN live
    "Around 5 p.m. problems began at CNN facilities in New York and Atlanta before being cleared up about 90 minutes later."
    "CNN, breaking into regular programming, reported on air that personal computers running Windows 2000 at the cable news network were affected by a worm that caused them to restart repeatedly."
    "The Internet Storm Center, which tracks the worldwide impact of computer worms, indicated on its Web site that no major Internet attack was underway. Likely this is an isolated event, which became newsworthy because CNN got infected. We do not see any new threats at this point, the site read."
  • August 17, 2005: CIBC and other banks, companies affected
    "CIBC says the Zotob worm caused some isolated outages, but did not affect ATMs, Internet or phone banking. The virus also hit other Canadian businesses but has not caused widespread shutdowns."
  • August 26, 2005: A suspect is arrested in Morocco
    "Under the request of the FBI, Moroccan police arrests 18 year old Farid Essebar, a Moroccan, suspected for being behind the spread of the virus."
  • September 16, 2006: Sentencing
    "The creators of the Zotob Windows worm Farid Essabar and his friend Achraf Bahloul were sentenced by a court in Morocco.

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