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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Mother of all Computer Viruses
Aired August 21, 2003 - 07:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to talk some business right now -- business as it relates to your computer, because it could have an impact. It's called the "Sobig" virus. How can you protect yourself and your computer?
Andy Serwer is minding our business. He checks in right now.
It is so big.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That's why they call it that, Bill.
HEMMER: Maybe?
SERWER: It's a very big virus, right. It's a good guess.
Anyway, this is the first time one of these viruses, which we're seeing more and more of -- they're getting more prevalent and they're getting bigger. This is the first one that's actually really, really impacting the economy, and it's doing some very nasty stuff out there this morning.
CSX, the large rail company, is saying that it's disrupting service. It's disrupting computers at Starbucks, AOL, Air Canada, all across the place, the University of Wisconsin, e-mail messages going from 1 million a day to 10 million a day.
You can see, if you get messages that have in the message line, "details," "thank you," or also "wicked screen saver," that's it, don't open it. It can seal your info. It's spreading the spam, and it's crashing networks.
I got 15 e-mails this morning already, Bill, and half of them were this virus.
HEMMER: Really?
SERWER: Yes, I mean, it's really out there.
HEMMER: What did it say on your subject line?
SERWER: It said, "Wicked screen saver." It said, "Your details," just like we said on the screen there. I mean -- and the thing is if you open them up, it can spread the virus further. So, you really shouldn't do that.
What should you do? Well, you should get anti-software virus, call your IT people up, back up files. There is Windows security you can get, and, as a matter of fact, Microsoft is taking advantage of the situation by getting full page ads out here saying, "Protect your PC." Well, it's a business opportunity for the beast of Redmond, I guess.
And, you know -- but it is a huge, huge problem.
And my last question is: Who are these people? Who are these people sending out this stuff? I mean, what is their problem? Just like the people who make prank phone calls during crises and call you anchors up. Just get a life!
HEMMER: That's true. And bottom line is if you can't identify it, don't open it.
SERWER: Just -- yes.
HEMMER: And just delete it.
SERWER: Just delete it. Delete it.
HEMMER: Yes. The beast of Redmoned?
SERWER: The beast of Redmond.
HEMMER: The first time I've heard that.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I never have heard that either.
SERWER: Microsoft.
HEMMER: We will remember that.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure they appreciate that in Redmond.
SERWER: Yes, they do. They love me.
HEMMER: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired August 21, 2003 - 07:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to talk some business right now -- business as it relates to your computer, because it could have an impact. It's called the "Sobig" virus. How can you protect yourself and your computer?
Andy Serwer is minding our business. He checks in right now.
It is so big.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That's why they call it that, Bill.
HEMMER: Maybe?
SERWER: It's a very big virus, right. It's a good guess.
Anyway, this is the first time one of these viruses, which we're seeing more and more of -- they're getting more prevalent and they're getting bigger. This is the first one that's actually really, really impacting the economy, and it's doing some very nasty stuff out there this morning.
CSX, the large rail company, is saying that it's disrupting service. It's disrupting computers at Starbucks, AOL, Air Canada, all across the place, the University of Wisconsin, e-mail messages going from 1 million a day to 10 million a day.
You can see, if you get messages that have in the message line, "details," "thank you," or also "wicked screen saver," that's it, don't open it. It can seal your info. It's spreading the spam, and it's crashing networks.
I got 15 e-mails this morning already, Bill, and half of them were this virus.
HEMMER: Really?
SERWER: Yes, I mean, it's really out there.
HEMMER: What did it say on your subject line?
SERWER: It said, "Wicked screen saver." It said, "Your details," just like we said on the screen there. I mean -- and the thing is if you open them up, it can spread the virus further. So, you really shouldn't do that.
What should you do? Well, you should get anti-software virus, call your IT people up, back up files. There is Windows security you can get, and, as a matter of fact, Microsoft is taking advantage of the situation by getting full page ads out here saying, "Protect your PC." Well, it's a business opportunity for the beast of Redmond, I guess.
And, you know -- but it is a huge, huge problem.
And my last question is: Who are these people? Who are these people sending out this stuff? I mean, what is their problem? Just like the people who make prank phone calls during crises and call you anchors up. Just get a life!
HEMMER: That's true. And bottom line is if you can't identify it, don't open it.
SERWER: Just -- yes.
HEMMER: And just delete it.
SERWER: Just delete it. Delete it.
HEMMER: Yes. The beast of Redmoned?
SERWER: The beast of Redmond.
HEMMER: The first time I've heard that.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I never have heard that either.
SERWER: Microsoft.
HEMMER: We will remember that.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure they appreciate that in Redmond.
SERWER: Yes, they do. They love me.
HEMMER: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
