How to Avoid Blaster Infection

Written By
Lance Ulanoff
Lance Ulanoff
Published: Aug 13, 2003
Updated: Feb 2, 2021
1 minute read
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Whats more important than figuring out how to get uninfected? Avoiding infection in the first place. Here are some simple steps you can take to safeguard your systems.

  • Download patch updates from Windowsupdate.com:

“Windows NT 4.0 ServerWindows NT 4.0 Terminal Server EditionWindows 2000Windows XP 32 bit EditionWindows XP 64 bit EditionWindows Server 2003 32 bit EditionWindows Server 2003 64 bit EditionWindows ME, 98 and 95 are not affected.“

  • Install firewall software. ZoneAlarm Pro, for example, or the free version, ZoneAlarm, will block the worm. Both are available for download from the Zone Labs Web site. Other firewalls will work as well.
  • Update your antivirus signature file. Most major antivirus manufacturers have posted alerts and updates to capture and clean the virus. If you do not have antivirus software, get it now.

Personal Antivirus SoftwareEnterprise Antivirus Software

  • Always allow critical system updates. You can run Windows XPs Automatic Update Wizard. Yes, Microsoft releases updates every Wednesday, but it does so for a reason. Its trying to stay ahead of the hackers and virus authors. Whats more, Microsoft and others are constantly finding small (and large) system bugs that these patches are designed to fix.
  • Manage your enterprise level patches. Critical updates must be installed. We know theyre not easy to do, but ignoring them could mean millions in lost business. Try to do the updates during non-peak office hours. Here are some more tips on patch management.

Read the rest of this story on PCMag.com.

Lance Ulanoff

Lance Ulanoff

Content Writer

Lance Ulanoff is Editor in Chief and VP of Content for PC Magazine Network, and brings with him over 20 years journalism experience, the last 16 of which he has spent in the computer technology publishing industry.He began his career as a weekly newspaper reporter before joining a national trade publication, traveling the country covering product distribution and data processing issues. In 1991 he joined PC Magazine where he spent five years writing and managing feature stories and reviews, covering a wide range of topics, including books and diverse technologies such as graphics hardware and software, office applications, operating systems and, tech news. He left as a senior associate editor in 1996 to enter the online arena as online editor at HomePC magazine, a popular consumer computing publication. While there, Ulanoff launched AskDrPC.com, and KidRaves.com and wrote about Web sites and Web-site building.In 1998 he joined Windows Magazine as the senior editor for online, spearheading the popular magazine's Web site, which drew some 6 million page views per month. He also wrote numerous product reviews and features covering all aspects of the computing world. During his tenure, Winmag.com won the Computer Press Association's prestigious runner-up prize for Best Overall Website.In August 1999, Ulanoff briefly left publishing to join Deja.com as producer for the Computing and Consumer Electronics channels and then was promoted to the site's senior director for content. He returned to PC Magazine in November 2000 and relaunched PCMag.com in July 2001. The new PCMag.com was named runner-up for Best Web Sites at the American Business Media's Annual Neal Awards in March 2002 and won a Best Web Site Award from the ASBPE in 2004. Under his direction, PCMag.com regularly generated more than 25 million page views a month and reached nearly 5 million monthly unique visitors in 2005.For the last year and a half, Ulanoff has served as Editor, Reviews, PC Magazine. In that role he has overseen all product and review coverage for PC Magazine and PCMag.com, as well as managed PC Labs. He also writes a popular weekly technology column for PCMag.com and his column also appears in PC Magazine.Recognized as an expert in the technology arena, Lance makes frequent appearances on local, national and international news programs including New York's Eyewitness News, NewsChannel 4, CNN, CNN HN, CNBC, MSNBC, Good Morning America Weekend Edition, and BBC, as well as being a regular guest on FoxNews' Studio B with Shepard Smith.

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