Failure To Protect?

Last week was just the latest in a string of nightmare runs for system administrators battling malicious code that infringes on their networks via viruses. With no less than three major worms hitting during the course of the week, systems administrators were caught up in a fierce battle against the viruses. And not all of the difficulty came from the worms themselves; many began blaming system administrators for failing to properly protect networks from threats like the Zotbot virus.Of course, guarding the network isn't as straightforward as it once was. Enterprise networks have become exceptionally complex, highly distributed ecosystems with many remote offices and an increasing number of laptops. That means more potential openings for viruses than ever. This complexity means more systems for administrators to track, which makes having an effective software patching policy in place absolutely critical. Obviously, the real responsibility for viruses falls on the shoulders of the hackers themselves, though they seem to be the only people escaping serious reproach as end users heap blame on Microsoft for the Windows 2000 security flaw that the hackers are exploiting. But, in the meantime, system administrators need to take serious second and third looks at their patching policies to be sure they are ready when the next attack hits. Companies need to make this a priority, since other attacks are only expected to become more sophisticated and damaging. There is also danger on an unexpected front, with localized but damaging assaults launched within the firewall.

This is no time for finger pointing; system administrators need to work with end users and software vendors alike to stop these attacks in their tracks. And they will be rewarded, as there is plenty of evidence that companies with an effective patching strategy in place made it through last week problem-free.

Early results from our Voting Booth poll show that most of you can vouch for the importance of having such a strategy in place. Let us know what your experience was last week in our poll.Last week was just the latest in a string of nightmare runs for system administrators battling malicious code that infringes on their networks via viruses. With no less than three major worms hitting enterprises (link “no less than three major worms hitting enterprises†to: http://www.SystemsManagementPipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=169500009) during the course of the week, systems administrators were caught up in a fierce battle against the viruses. And not all of the difficulty came from the worms themselves; many began blaming (link “blaming†to: http://www.SystemsManagementPipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=169500106) system administrators for failing to properly protect networks from threats like the Zotbot virus.