| Blaster | |
|---|---|
| Technical name | As Blaster
As Lovsan As MSBLAST
|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Blaster_hex_dump.png) | |
| Hex dump of the Blaster worm, showing a message left for Microsoft founder Bill Gates by the programmer | |
| Alias | Lovsan, Lovesan, MSBlast |
| Type | Worm |
| Isolation date | 2004 |
| Origin | Minnesota (B variant only) |
| Authors | Jeffrey Lee Parson (B variant only) |
| Technical details | |
| Platform | Windows XP and Windows 2000 |
| Ports used | Remote Procedure Call |
Blaster (also known as Lovsan, Lovesan, or MSBlast) was a computer worm that spread on computers running operating systems Windows XP and Windows 2000 during August 2003.[1]
The worm was first noticed and started spreading on August 11, 2003. The rate that it spread increased until the number of infections peaked on August 13, 2003. Once a network (such as a company or university) was infected, it spread more quickly within the network because firewalls typically did not prevent internal machines from using a certain port.[2] Filtering by ISPs and widespread publicity about the worm curbed the spread of Blaster.
In September 2003, Jeffrey Lee Parson, an 18-year-old from Hopkins, Minnesota, was indicted for creating the B variant of the Blaster worm; he admitted responsibility and was sentenced to an 18-month prison term in January 2005.[3] The author of the original A variant remains unknown.
- ^ "CERT Advisory CA-2003-20: W32/Blaster worm". CERT/CC. 2003-08-14. Archived from the original on 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- ^ "MS03-026: Buffer Overrun in RPC May Allow Code Execution". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- ^ "Minnesota Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Creating and Unleashing a Variant of the MS Blaster Computer Worm". United States Department of Justice. 2005-01-28. Retrieved 2021-02-17.