On the new worm: CNN, you are Disgusting!

[Danny]

I love CNN – it’s a great network, and although all Cable News Networks slant their news, it’s still very entertaining to watch. But today, I lost a great deal of respect for the network.

Wolf Blitzer’s, “Situation Room TV show, which itself is designed to hype meaningless news, is currently featuring a “Breaking News segment about a new worm, dubbed “worm_rbot.cbq by Trend Micro.

They are talking to security “experts who are advising people to backup all their data, and immediately get virus definitions. Wolf Blitzer welcomed new viewers to his program by saying its advisable to immediately shut down your computer. They even compared the threat to the Blaster worm a while back.

So why am I going to vomit all over my TV screen? Not because I ate a bad lunch, but because not only does this worm not affect Windows XP with Service Pack 2, or computers with recent Microsoft patches, but it hasn’t created any real damage to stock markets or boosted internet traffic levels.

And even though it’s a worm, CNN continues to call it a virus.

Symptoms of the worm are apparently continual reboots – and there’s nothing to lead anybody to believe this actually causes data loss. Microsoft describes the worm as “Low Impact, but of course CNN had to add that “We don’t know what that means.

“If you can’t logon to Windows 2000, how can you go to Microsoft.com to get the patch? Blitzer asked. The reply made to him? Well that was the best part – a CNN security expert said they could get the patched burned on a disc.

Next time there is “Breaking News that requires this much attention, I am more than willing to advise the CNN news team myself. Although I hate to say this, FOX News hasn’t even touched this story.

[Danny]

I also sent this in to CNN in their contact form. Lets see what happens. Maybe they'll get the message its NOT OK to intentionally panic the public like this.

Had they kept their systems patched they won't be shutting down in CNN offices.

[mikeandike22]

haha i love it when ppl dont know what they are talking about, like when my school's newspaper said if you dont want spyware swicth to firefox(i agree with that but this part) or just move to mac (sorry i like my games, plus linux is much safer and i think way better than mac). Also when ppl say things like "Alienware computers suck, they are only good when playing games" i would say they overpriced but somehow i think if you can play doom3 and hl2 at full settings than i am pretty sure you can check your email just fine.

[benna]

My favorite part was early on in CNN's coverage when wolf blitzer was interviewing CNN's business correspondent about his computer not working and said to him, "What happens if you press control alt delete?" CNN obviously still isn't sure what is is that hit them. Some of their people are saying RBOT while others are saying its a derivative of an earlier worm. Perhaps it is both but they don't make that clear.

My own personal hypothesis as to why they spent nealry an hour talking about nothing but this worm is that the worm took down their computer systems which hold the videos of reports and so they couldn't show anything else. As soon as they did have them working they went to Lou Dobbs and continued mostly as normal.

I have seen some people on the air making excuses. "When it hits your computer systems the worm seems bigger than it might really be." I also loved the comment, "Microsoft says its low impact but they won't tell us what that means." It means LOW IMPACT you stupid fucks.

[jwenting]

And as usual the world falls all over Microsoft for "not fixing" something they themselves reported AND fixed months ago.

[benna]

Months ago? Try a days ago.

[Ancient Dragon]

Well, benna, just exactly what does "low impact" mean, without using the words "low impact" ? If you can't define it then you probably don't know any more than CNN what that means. Microsoft, and other IT people too, are good at throwing around meaningless terms (gobbledegook)

[UIT]

well, you're post's title basically sums it up. :-)

[Danny]

Low = "Little," "Small," "Not very many"
Impact = "Effects," "Consequences,"

Jumble these words however you'd like. Benna is totally right -- CNN knew that "Low Impact" meant the worm had little effect on the general computing world, but they still hyped it up.

At about a week after it happened, nobody is even talking about this. The worm attacked companies with outdated computer systems and weak security.