This post originated from an RSS feed registered with .NET Buzz by Doug Thews. Original Post: Check Your Machine for the Sasser Worm Feed Title: IlluminatiLand Feed URL: http://apps5.oingo.com/apps/domainpark/domainpark.cgi?client=netw8744&s=JETBRAINS.COM Feed Description: A technology blog for people enlightened enough to think for themselves Latest .NET Buzz Posts Latest .NET Buzz Posts by Doug Thews Latest Posts From IlluminatiLand

The Sasser worm is out there scanning IPs at random for a chance to connect to Windows 2000/XP machines on port 445 for a chance to take advantage of the dreaded buffer overflow bug. What stinks about this one is that it doesn't require you to open an infected e-mail or file. It relies on infected PCs contacting your PC directly over the Internet via TCP port 445. So, if you connect to the Internet with a public IP address, are not protected by a firewall, and have not applied the latest security patch, you could become infected the minute you connect.

Check here to see if your PC is infected. You can get the latest security updates here or via the WindowsUpdate site. Yet another reason to continue and auto-apply the latest MS security patches via WindowsUpdate.