What a month August has been. First Lovsan, also known as the Microsoft Blaster, took over machines in an attempt to coordinate an attack against Microsoft. Then Nachi—or White Hat—took over machines in an attempt to force them to install a patch to close the door on Lovsan. Now SoBig.F has shattered the record set by Klez as the most prolific worm to date. These worms are more than a nuisance; they are affecting real business. SoBig.F’s replication during its first 24 hours not only exceeds the record set by Klez, it completely blows it away. Whereas Klez mailed out 250,000 copies of itself during the first day, SoBig.F passed the 1 million mark. All of these infected e-mails have been clogging networks and creating productivity problems for many companies and organizations worldwide.

We are seeing a move from the days of viruses being mere annoyances to a new world in which viruses can wreak real havoc on our economy and infrastructure. Attention to security is more important today than ever before. The following list of links to news stories demonstrates a sampling of the real effects of recent viruses.

• Virus Infect Air Canada Check-in (CNN)
• Slammer Worm Crashed Ohio Nuke Plant (The Register)
• Computer Virus Shuts Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (AP)
• New Worm Affects Computers at Lockheed Martin (AP)